Asia Cup 2022 hosts Sri Lanka had the most tumultuous times in the lead-up to the grand spectacle. The island nation has been embroiled in an economic crisis of grand proportions, something which forced them to essentially give up the hosting right of the Asia Cup. The tournament was shifted to UAE, but Sri Lanka has retained the rights as ‘hosts’.
Owing to the whole turmoil in the country, Sri Lanka Cricket was forced to delay the squad announcement, and finally, they have named a 20-man strong roster, nearly 12 days after the deadline for squad submission.
Squad: Dasun Shanaka (Capt), Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (WK), Charith Asalanka (VC), Bhanuka Rajapaksha (WK), Dinesh Chandhimal (WK), Nuwanidu Fernando, Ashen Bandara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanidu Hasaranga, Mahesh Theekshana, Jeffery Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrenna, Dushmantha Chameera, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana
Skipper Dasun Shanaka will continue to lead the Lankan Lions while Charith Asalanka will be his deputy. The squad is brimming with talent as young pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who has been likened to Lasith Malinga has also made the cut.
Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Jeffrey Vandersay all made timely returns to the squad, after missing out on Sri Lanka’s home assignment against Australia. Ashen Bandara, who last represented the national team back in July 2021, in a T20I against India has also been included, and Dilshan Madushanka, the uncapped 21-year-old pacer has also made the cut.
As far as the absentees are concerned, the exclusion of Akila Dananjaya and Kusal Perera has been a reason for some concern among the fans, given their experience. On a relatable note, here are five players who missed out on Sri Lanka’s squad for Asia Cup 2022:
#5 Nuwan Thushara
The 28-year-old only made his senior debut for Sri Lanka earlier in February 2022, and since then he’s only played three more times. Nuwan Thushara has just 2 wickets in total in the shortest format to show for his efforts.
His economy rate stands at 9.70 and thus it’s kind of understandable why the SLC opted to leave him out of the Asia Cup 2022 squad. The all-rounder needs to gain some more experience, before dreaming of representing Sri Lanka in a major international tournament.
#4 Lahiru Kumara
Lahiru Kumara celebrates the dismissal of a Bangladesh batsman
Another big-name player left out by SLC for the Asia Cup 2022, Lahiru Kumara was part of the Sri Lanka squad during last year’ T20I World Cup in UAE. He in fact played six games and chipped in with a decent return of six wickets. That being said, the all-rounder was pretty expensive against big guns such as Australia, South Africa and England.
Also, Kumara hasn’t played any T20I matches for Sri Lanka since February so he was probably left out because of a dip in form. Luckily for the 25-year-old, he has been signed by the KKR-owned Abu Dhabi franchise for the UAE T20 league, which coil help him stage a comeback.
#3 Avishka Fernando
Avishka Fernando did not fare well at the T20I World Cup 2021 as he could only muster up 23 runs in 7 matches, a really disappointing figure. He has primarily played as an opener, but he also has featured sparingly at number 3 and number 4 as well.
In total the right-handed batter has played 32 T20Is for his nation, scoring 336 runs in total, with and not so impressive average of 12 and strike rate of 94.64. The number do really speak for themselves. Moreover, Fernando last represented Sri Lanka in February 2022, so he’s not really a big surprise in terms of the absentees from Asia Cup 2022 squad.
#2 Kusal Perera
Kusal Perera last played for Sri Lanka at the 2021 T20I World Cup
Kusal Perera is among the most experienced personnel on this list, with 60 caps to his name in the shortest format and his omission was down to the fact that he hasn’t played a single match for Sri Lanka since their 2021 T20I World Cup’s final match against West Indies.
Perera could only contribute 112 runs across seven games, and that was it for the southpaw as he wasn’t ever seen again representing his nation. Despite his reputation and experience on the international stage, SLC has chosen to snub Perera due to his astonishing dip in form.
#1 Akila Dananjaya
Another player who was part of Sri Lanka’s T20I World Cup squad last year, Akila Dananjaya was among the fringe players during the UAE campaign, wherein he couldn’t even open his account. The 28-year-old has in total represented his nation in 31 T20I matches.
Dananjaya has amassed 61 runs in total, with 28 scalps to his name. The all-rounder has been playing List A and T20 games ever since but clearly, having last played for Sri Lanka in September 2021, he was always going to be out of the picture for the Asia Cup 2022 squad.