Asia Cup Champions Sri Lanka announces an exciting 15-man squad for T20 WC, with the return of two premium pacers

With less than one month left until the start of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, all the teams are gearing up for their best shots at the trophy. On Friday, the Asia Cup 2022 winner, Sri Lanka, also announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming event.

They have gone with the same team that won the Asia Cup with very few changes. Two veteran pacers, Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara, have returned to the side after recovering from their injuries. These two pacers will add more firepower to the Sri Lankan pace department.

The remaining 13 players for the world cup are those who played recently in the Asia Cup. After beating all the top Asian sides recently, Sri Lanka will enter the tournament with full confidence. Dasun Shanaka will want his players to carry on their good performance in the ICC tournament.

Chameera, who couldn't feature in the Asia Cup, suffered a calg injury, while Kumara played his last game for Sri Lanka in a Test match against India in March 2022. But in the absence of these two, the likes of Karunaratne, Madushanka, and Madushan did a pretty good job and helped their team to win the Asia Cup.

But the availability of both Chameera and Kumara will depend on their fitness ahead of the World Cup. However, the ones who miss out on the ticket to Australia are Dinesh Chandimal, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwanindu Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrama, and Nuwan Thushara.

Here's your 🇱🇰 squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup! ⬇️#RoaringForGlory #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/GU7EIl6zOw

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) September 16, 2022

Wanindu Hasaranga, who ended as the leading wicket taker in the 2021 World Cup, along with Maheesh Theekshana, will be the premium spinners in the team. The batting order is very much the same as in the Asia Cup. Apart from the 15-man squad, Sri Lanka has also picked five players in reserve.

Sri Lanka will compete in the qualifier and is in Group A with Namibia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Netherlands. The Shanaka-led team will start their tournament with a match on October 16 against Namibia at the Simonds Stadium, Geelong. From that group, they are likely to finish on top.

Sri Lanka's squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne,  Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dushmantha Chameera (Subject to fitness), Lahiru Kumara (Subject to fitness), Dilshan Madushanka and Pramod Madushan.

Reserve Players: Dinesh Chandimal, Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrema, Binura Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando