Sri Lanka have dropped captain Dinesh Chandimal from the Test squad for their upcoming tour of South Africa in light of his horror showing in Australia.
Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Tuesday, 5 February, that opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne will lead a 17-man squad for the two-Test series starting next week.
Chandimal’s omission comes after scores of 5, 0, 15 and 4 in his team’s 2-0 series defeat in Australia, where they were drubbed in both games.
The selectors have asked the 29-year-old, who has captained the Lankans in Tests since 2017, to play domestic cricket to regain form.
Sri Lanka have called up three uncapped players for the stern challenge of combating the Proteas in their own den – batsman Oshada Fernando, seam bowler Mohmed Shiraz and left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.
The first Test begins at Durban on Wednesday, 13 February, with the second Test at Port Elizabeth from 21 February.
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