Rangana to captain Sri Lanka against Bangladesh test series

Malinda Pushpakumara gets maiden call to the National Team

27th February 2017, Colombo: Veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has been named as the Test captain to lead the Sri Lankan team for two test series against Bangladesh.

Herath led the Sri Lankan team to victory in November last year, with a clean sweep of 2-0 against Zimbabwe in his first series as captain. While the spinner has retired from the shorter format of the game, he has taken on the challenge of leading the team through the two test series against the Bangladeshi team.

Meanwhile, slow left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara has been included in the test squad. Pushpakumara first represented the Sri Lanka A team in 2012 when he faced South Africa and Zimbabwe during a triangular tournament and made an appearance for the Sri Lanka A team in 2015 against Pakistan. He is currently playing against the England Lions.

The selectors are confident that the test squad will be able to challenge the Bangladesh team in the longer format of the game.

Bangladesh have played 16 tests against Sri Lanka, the highest for Tests against any opponent. But they could only manage two draws against the islanders in their previous two series.

The first test match will be played in Galle starting on 7th March while the second one is to be played at the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium from the 15th to 19th of March.

The Test Squad is due to be announced tomorrow upon ratification of the Minister of Sports, Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekera.