Sri Lanka drop Jayasurya, Malinga and Mendis for Bangla Triseries

After a disappointing tour of India, the Sri Lankan selectors have made wholesale changes to the Sri Lanka team announced for the Triseries in Bangladesh which also features India.  During the just concluded ODI series in India, the Lankan team management and selectors drew much flak for the way they treated veteran star Sanath Jayasurya. If the team management didn’t have much confidence in the ageing all-rounder, it was only to be expected that Jayasurya would fail to make it to the Lanka team for the Bangladesh triseries. The Kolkata nightclub controversy may have only further reduced any support that Jayasurya may have evoked from the supporters. While Dilshan was the chief culprit then, the Sri Lanka opener is in too rollicking a form to be punished for a minor transgression.

Others to get the axe were Lasitha Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and Chamara Kapugedhara. For Mendis, this has been a really sharp decline after becoming the toast of the island cricket nation when he almost single-handedly demolished India, a team packed with batsmen known to be the best players of spin.

Besides these four, batsman Mahela Jayawardene, all-rounder Angelo Matthews, Muttiah Muralitharan and quickie Dilhara Fernando will also not feature in the Lanka team as they are all saddled with injuries and were not considered for selection.

Chamara Silva has made a return to the national side on the basis of his strong performances in the domestic tournaments. Lahiru Thirimanne too made it to the Lanka team after finishing as the leading batsman for his side in the domestic Lankan league. Also to make it to the team are spinner Malinga Bandara and fast bowler Thilan Thushara.

Here’s the complete Sri Lanka team for the Triseries in Bangladesh:

Click here for >> India Team for Bangladesh Triseries