Sri Lanka announce squad for England Test series; Pathum Nissanka, Jeffrey Vandersay return

Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka. (Source – Getty Images)

Sri Lanka have brought back Pathum Nissanka and Jeffrey Vandersay into the squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against England, slated to begin on August 21. Opener Nissanka made his Test debut in March 2021 and managed to stick by the team till July 2022 before being displaced by Nishan Madushka. He had a good run with the team, scoring five half-centuries and a century in nine matches but yet, a poor home series against Australia pushed him out.

Vandersay, meanwhile, played just one Test match for Sri Lanka. Recently, in the second ODI against India in Colombo, the leg-spinner picked up six wickets, which arguably prompted the selectors to pick him for the marquee series against England, especially in the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga. Other than these two returnees, Sri Lanka have also named uncapped pacer Milan Rathnayake and fast-bowling allrounder Nisala Tharaka in the squad.

Notably, this was Tharaka’s first call-up to the Test side. Multiple key seamers will be missing the England series due to their respective injuries, which opened the door for Tharaka. He has featured in 107 first-class games in which he has picked 257 wickets and scored 2358 runs. Rathnayake, on the other hand, was called up in the one-off Test against Afghanistan but failed to get into the playing XI.

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He has played 39 first-class matches and picked up 79 wickets and also scored 633 runs. Meanwhile, a lot of Sri Lankan players are currently busy in the white-ball series against India. However, pacer Vishwa Fernando featured in three County Championship matches for Yorkshire and the experience of it will come in handy. Notably, Sri Lanka are currently fourth on the WTC points table and a win in the series could help them get closer to the final.

Sri Lanka squad for England Test series:

Dhananjaya De Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (vc), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake