Tharanga, Lokuhettige new faces in one-day squad

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka cricket selectors introduced two new faces in naming a 15-member squad for the seven-match one-day tri-nation tournament against West Indies and India starting at Dambulla on July 30.

Upul Tharanga, a 20-year-old left-hand opening bat who represents NCC in the Premier tournament won selection over two other experienced openers Avishka Gunawardena and Saman Jayantha.

Moors SC's 25-year-old fast-medium bowling all-rounder Dilhara Lokuhettige is the other newcomer to the one-day side.

Tharanga who played in the under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year, proved himself to be an outstanding prospect with scores of 69, 61 & 30, 63, 53 and 104 in the Sri Lanka under 19 tour of Pakistan in April this year. He followed this performance with a series of half-centuries at home for Sri Lanka 'A' against West Indies 'A' including an impressive knock of 41 for Sri Lanka Cricket XI against West Indies in a 2-day practice match at the NCC grounds where he shared an opening stand of 96 with Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu.

Lokuhettige came up with an eye-catching all-round performance in his first international match when he took three wickets and scored 57 and 22 not out to steer Sri Lanka 'A' to a series clinching victory over West Indies 'A' in the decisive third unofficial test at the Saravanamuttu Stadium. He forced himself into the Sri Lanka 'A' side this year with consistent performances with bat and ball for his club in domestic cricket.

Chairman of selectors Lalith Kaluperuma said that the inclusion of two new players is a continuation of the selectors policy of rewarding players with potential and who perform well.

"Upul will either open the batting or bat at no. 3," said Kaluperuma. "It all depends on the day and the condition of the pitch."

"We have picked only seven batsmen because there are four all-rounders in the squad which gives the captain a lot of options," he said.

Apart from Lokuhettige, there is the experienced pair of Chaminda Vaas and Upul Chandana and also Farveez Maharoof.

Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando and Lasith Malinga make up a six-member seam combination with Vaas, Lokuhettige and Maharoof.

Kaluperuma said the squad was well balanced and equipped to play under any condition.

Dambulla where the tri-series starts and the first four matches are scheduled is seamer-oriented while the remaining three matches including the final at the R. Premadasa Stadium will favour spin.

Sri Lanka play India in the lung-opener on July 30, which will be followed by India meeting West Indies the following day.

SRI LANKA ONE-DAY SQUAD FOR TRI-NATION SERIES 
Age ODIs 
M.S. Atapattu, c (SSC) 		34 225 
D.P.M. Jayawardene, vc (SSC) 	28 176 
S.T. Jayasuriya (Bloomfield) 	36 333 
K.C. Sangakkara (NCC) 		27 123 
T.M. Dilshan (Bloomfield) 	28 52 
W.U. Tharanga (NCC) 		20 - 
R.P. Arnold (NCC) 		31 128 
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas (Colts) 	31 249 
U.D.U. Chandana (NCC) 		33 133 
M. Muralitharan (Tamil Union) 	33 237 
D.N.T. Zoysa (SSC) 		27 88 
D.D. Lokuhettige (Moors SC) 	25 - 
C.R.D. Fernando (SSC) 		26 62 
M.F. Maharoof (Bloomfield) 	20 17 
S.L. Malinga (NCC) 		21 4