Sri Lanka will begin their gruelling tour with a two-day tour fixture against a depleted Board President’s XI in Kolkata on Saturday.It’s an improbable task for skipper Dinesh Chandimal who will play his maiden Test in India and would bank upon the experience of Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath the only two members who were part of their side which suffered 0—2 defeat seven years back.
The Islanders are here in India in a gap of two months but with a confidence-boosting surprise 2-0 Test series win over Pakistan in UAE last month.The Lankans will play three Tests and as many ODIs and T20Is in the long series concluding in Mumbai on December 24.
Chandimal and Co. will hope to start well against a third-string Board’s side led by Sanju Samson.
The match is scheduled at the Jadavpur University second campus ground, the deck of which primarily supports seam bowling.
Squads:
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-captain), Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka and Roshen Silva.
Board President’s XI: Sanju Samson (c), Abhishek Gupta, Akash Bhandari, Avesh Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Jiwanjot Singh, Ravi Kiran, Rohan Prem, B Sandeep, Tanmay Agarwal, Sandeep Warrier, and Anmolpreet Singh.
