Kusal Perera, the wicketkeeper-batsman, who was recently named the captain of the Sri Lanka team in ODIs and T20Is, will also be leading the islanders on their upcoming limited-overs tour to England, dailynews.lk reported.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to tour England for a series of three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), which start June 23 onwards. Perera had recently captained the Sri Lanka team against Bangladesh at home in the ODIs, a series in which they lost 1-2, for the first time to the Tigers.
It has been reported that Dasun Shanaka, who has previously captained Sri Lanka in T20s, might be given the reins of the team in the shortest format, but he was not up to the expectations during the recent ODI series against Bangladesh, a reliable source of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) told the Daily News yesterday.
The sources also said that the National Selectors have picked a 28-member preliminary squad for the tour of England. The 28-member preliminary squad is expected to be pruned down to 22 players by the end of the first week of June.
The preliminary squad of Sri Lanka chosen by the selectors has included many names which shined during the domestic season like Charith Asalanka, Kamil Mishara, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya Lakshan, and Ishan Jayaratne.
Also included in the squad were pacers Kasun Rajitha, who recovered from an injury, and Nuwan Pradeep. Avishka Fernando who missed the tours of West Indies and Bangladesh has been added to the squad after he passed the fitness test.
The selectors have continued to overlook experienced players including Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, and Suranga Lakmal for the England limited-overs tour. Mathews has made himself unavailable for selection until mid-June due to personal reasons and he has already informed the National Selectors.
The Sri Lanka preliminary squad:
Kusal Perera (Captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Kamil Mishara, Niroshan Dickwella, Ashen Bandara, Dasun Shanaka, Chamika Karunaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ramesh Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Praveen Jayawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Shiran Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Asitha Fernando and Ishan Jayaratna.
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