Tharanga to lead Lanka in ODIs, T20I against India

TIL Desk Sports/ Left-arm Sri Lanka batsman Upul Tharanga will lead the side in the upcoming five-match ODI series against India. Tharanga will be leading the ODI side for the first time since Angelo Mathews gave up the ODI captaincy post the 2-3 loss against Zimbabwe in July at home.

The left-arm batsman was in horrendous form in the Test series against India which the hosts lost 0-3. All-rounders Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana have also been included in the 15-man Sri Lanka squad. While Mathews is still part of the squad, right-arm pacer Lasith Malinga has also made a comeback.

Apart from the injured pair of pacers, Nuwan Pradeep (hamstring) and Asela Gunaratne (thumb), Sri Lanka left out fast bowlers Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara and Lahiru Kumara, who all featured in ODI series against Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Tharanga has urged the nations’ cricketing fans to rally round the national team and have confidence in the Lankan Lions.

“Every team goes through a rough patch” a Sri Lanka Cricket release quoted him as saying. “This is something that happens in cycles to every team and every nation no matter how great a cricketing nation they are. Sri Lanka dominated in all three formats for a good 18 years – don’t forget this now when we are going through a rough patch.”