Lasith Embuldeniya, Oshada Fernando return as Sri Lanka announce Test squad for South Africa series

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand. (Source – Sri Lanka Cricket)

Sri Lanka have announced a 17-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa, starting on November 27. Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya and Oshada Fernando have been called up while Ramesh Mendis has been dropped. He played only one Test in 2024, which was against New Zealand, in which, the 29-year-old picked up six wickets, but the team management didn’t show faith in him for the Proteas tour.

Embuldeniya meanwhile returned to the scheme of things after more than two years. He played 17 Tests in his career, picking up 71 wickets at an average of 36.77 but was dropped due to inconsistency. He has now returned and is likely to feature in the playing XI in the Test series against South Africa.

Oshada has also been called up for the series. He played his last Test in March 2023 but his recent performance against South Africa A, impressed the team management, as he was in the scheme of things for the New Zealand series as well. However, he didn’t feature in that series and has now earned a call-up. Meanwhile, Nishan Madushka, who has done well in limited overs, hasn’t made it to the Test squad.

Meanwhile, as per ESPNCricinfo, several of the Sri Lankan players are already in South Africa to get adjusted to the conditions and they are training under the former cricketer, Neil McKenzie. A few of the white-ball players had to hold back for the series against New Zealand and are now slated to travel. Meanwhile, the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side has done a commendable job in red-ball cricket in recent times, winning a Test in England and beating white-washing New Zealand at home. They would hope to keep up with the momentum against South Africa.

Sri Lanka squad for South Africa series:

Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Oshada Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lasith Embuldeniya, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha.