Sri Lanka prepare for New Zealand challenge with unchanged T20I squad
Sri Lanka have named a strong 16-member squad led by Charith Asalanka for a six-match white-ball series involving three T20Is followed by three ODIs, against New Zealand.
In a recent development, Sri Lanka players are likely to start their training from 1 June if they are permitted from the country’s government. If the Sri Lankan government indeed grants them permission, the fast bowlers in the island nation would be the first ones to resume training after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended all cricketing action in the country.
Head coach of the Sri Lankan team Mikey Arthur has said the discussions with Dimuth Karunaratne and Lasith Malinga were regarding the training of players.
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“Last Wednesday we had a quick meeting to talk about resuming cricket because we are starting to get out plans in place for June 1. Once we get the official go-ahead from the Sri Lanka Ministry of health I will start putting meat into that structure with the captains and my support staff,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Arthur as saying.
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“It is looking good with the health ministry, but it will be a smaller group. We’ll probably prioritise our fast bowlers because they are the ones who are going to need more time to get back into it,” he added.
Notably, the Sri Lankan government was scheduled to play a two-match Test series against England in March earlier this year but the assignment had to be postponed in view of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, coach Arthur wasn’t able to get back home amid the coronavirus crisis and decided to stay back in Colombo itself.
“It just got worse and worse so much so that is when I decided to stay in Sri Lanka because I wanted to be here. To make sure that I saw the players through this crisis, to make sure I was only a phone call away and I wasn’t in another country. It’s been mind-blowing,” Arthur concluded.
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