LPL Team Preview: Well-balanced Colombo Strikers hunt for success

Last season’s runners-up Colombo Strikers will take on defending champions Jaffna Kings to begin their campaign in the opener of Lanka Premier League 2023 on 30^th of July at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.

History

In the first edition, the Colombo franchise were called the Colombo Kings before playing the 2021 and 2022 tournaments as Colombo Stars. In May 2023, the team changed its name to Colombo Strikers after SKKY Group took over ownership.

In 2020, they ended the league stage as table-toppers but failed to make it to the finals as they lost to Galle in the semi-finals. After finishing 4^th in 2021, Colombo made a dramatic turnaround in the previous edition where they reached the finals for the first time, beating Galle and Kandy in the Eliminator and Qualifier 2, respectively. However, they ended up as runners-up, losing to Jaffna Kings in a thrilling Final.

In the previous three seasons, veteran Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews led the Colombo side while Dhananjaya De Silva also captained in a few games. With neither of them available for the Strikers this season having moved to B-Love Kandy and Dambulla Aura respectively, keeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella has been named skipper for the upcoming season.

Key Players

Before the player auction, Colombo Strikers pre-signed young bowling sensation Matheesha Pathirana and all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne as local players, as well as Pakistani skipper Babar Azam and Pakistani quick Naseem Shah as overseas players.

In the auction, they picked national caps Pathum Nissanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Ramesh Mendis and Lakshan Sandakan as well as Wahab Riaz, Iftikar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, and Irish wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker as their overseas signings. However, they have made a couple of changes to their overseas setup, bringing Imam Ul Haq and the Bangladeshi pacer Shoriful Islam to replace Tucker and Riaz.

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All eyes will be on Pathirana who played a key role for Chennai Super Kings as they clinched the 2023 IPL title, becoming the youngest foreign player to win an IPL trophy. ‘Baby Malinga’ claimed 19 wickets at the IPL, most of which came at the death.

Babar Azam, who is considered one of the finest batters across all formats in the modern era, will play a massive role at the top of order with the likes of Nissanka and Dickwella.

When focusing on their young talents, they have plenty of guys in the squad such as Nuwanidu Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Movin Subasinghe, Nipun Dhananjaya, Shashika Dulshan and Dhananjaya Lakshan.

On the other hand, Naseem Shah’s searing pace and swing will be another plus point for the Strikers, especially with the new ball. Their pace attack looks really formidable with possible combination of Pathirana, Shah, Karunaratne and Shoriful, something that should set them apart from the rest of the competition.

Squad

Niroshan Dickwella (c), Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Matheesha Pathirana, Chamika Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Lakshan Sandakan, Nipun Dhananjaya, Movin Subasinghe, Lahiru Udara, Eshan Malinga, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shashika Dulshan, Nuwanidu Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Angelo Perera, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Kavishka Anjula, Mohammad Nawaz, Ramesh Mendis, Yashoda Lanka, Ahan Wickramasinghe, Imam Ul Haq, Shoriful Islam

Fixtures

Stay in with ThePapare.com for all the latest updates on the upcoming Lanka Premier League 2023 season.

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