The 20-year old batsman Kusal Mendis is almost guaranteed of his Test debut in the second Test match which starts on Thursday between Sri Lanka and West Indies for the Sobers-Tissera trophy at P. Sara Oval grounds.
Kusal has earned his place and hopefully he’ll grab his place. We can’t put a lot of pressure on him and we can’t expect him to do wonders, there will be nervous times for him but we’re there to help him out as a team and as a captain. He’s got the talent. We’re hopeful that he’ll come out good.” Angelo Mathews confirmed the selection at the pre-match press conference.
Out-of-form batsman, Lahiru Thirimanne has been finally dropped from the side after a dismal run with the bat. He made only two half-centuries in his last 28 innings. Former Sri Lanka under 19 and Prince of Wales captain, Kusal Mendis will bat at the most pivotal number 3 position.
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Rangana Herath has been named as the vice-captain of the side,
”Thirimanne was appointed as vice-captain only for one year. As he has been dropped from this Test we have made Herath the vice-captain. When Thirimanne gets into the side he will regain his vice captaincy,”
– Mathews Said.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera is also a certainty to play in this decisive Test in place of Thrarindu Kaushal. Sri Lanka will now have three inexperienced Test batsmen in their top seven, Kusal Mendis (Debut), Milinda Siriwardana (1), Kusal Janith Perera (2).
Sri Lanka start on Thursday as hot favourites to claim the first-ever Sobers-Tissera trophy after their inning & 6-run victory over the Windies at Galle. Sir Garfield Sobers & Micheal Tissera will be the chief guests of this match.
West Indies will have some hope of retaliating after seen the seamer-friendly track at P. Sara but the surface will assist the spinners more as the game progresses.
Incidentally, each of the 10 most recent Tests at the P. Sara Oval have had a result. Weather will play a critical role once again as Sri Lanka look to win their first silverware in 2015.
Sri Lanka XI – Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (captain), Milinda Siriwardana, Kusal Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Nuwan Pradeep.
West Indies XI (probable) – Kraigg Braithwaite, Rajendra Chandrika, 3 Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jemaine Blackwood, Denesh Ramdin, Jason Holder (captain), Devendra Bishoo, 9 Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel
