By Bipin Dani
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, who is a Consultant Coach for the national cricket team, will travel with the team to Zimbabwe where Sri Lanka is set to play its Cricket World Cup qualifying matches.
The squad is expected to leave for Zimbabwe tomorrow.
It is still not known whether a squad of 15 or 16 players will be boarding the flight but it is almost confirmed that those who were selected for the recent ODI series against Afghanistan will be retained.
If only 15 players are approved, there’s a likelihood that Angelo Mathews may be dropped.
Sri Lanka won the three-match ODI series 2-1.
As it is an ICC event as per the protocol a total squad of 25 members including support staff will travel to Zimbabwe.
It is also learnt that two special support staff members, a nutritionist and a psychologist, are not in the list.
“Both the nutritionist (Dr. Hashan Amasrthunga) and psychologist (Dr. Fedinan Perera) worked successfully with the team. We have to send a limited support staff for the Zimbabwe trip. But, yes, if our team qualifies for the World Cup, we will certainly try to send them,” Prof. Arjuna de Silva, the chairman of the SLC medical panel, said.
Chief selector Pramodya Wickramsinghe will be the on tour selector.
Sri Lanka is in Group B with Ireland, Oman, Scotland and UAE. The five teams in group A are Nepal, Netherlands, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka’s first match is against the UAE team on Monday, 19th June.
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