Schoolboy Kaushal in ODI squad:

Tormentor Mendis out of T20 and 3 ODIs

ELMO Rodrigopulle

Spinning sensation Ajantha Mendis who recovered well from injury to torment batsmen in the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup tournament has again suffered a side strain and will be out of the first T20 and will also miss three one-day games against New Zealand.

Mendis was in great form in the final T20 against the West Indies capturing 4 for 10. But his great work was wasted as Sri Lanka gifted the final to the West Indies.

However the selectors are confident that he will recover and be fit to torment the Kiwis in the final two one-day games.

Newly appointed Twenty20 vice captain Lasith Malinga and champion batsman and former captain Mahela Jayawardene have been rested for the Twenty20 game in Pallekele on Tuesday. Malinga and Jayawardene are at the moment playing in the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa.

Medium pacer Nuwan Kulesekera has been entrusted with the job of vice captain to Captain elect Angelo Mathews. Left arm spinner Ranga Herath who had a good game against Pakistan in the Twenty20 semi-final which Sri Lanka won again finds himself dumped from the T20 squad.

An off spinner of great promise Tharindu Kaushal, a schoolboy from Devapathiraja College, Ratgama has been included in the. Kaushal represented Sri Lanka in the Under-19 Youth World Cup in Australia and according to Chief Selector Asantha de Mel who went on that tour is a player for the future.

The Kiwis will play three Test matches, five one-day internationals and a solitary Twenty20.

The squads: Twenty20: Angelo Mathews (C), Nuwan Kulesekea (VC), Tillekeratne Dilshan, Dilshan Munaweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Akila Djananjaya, Thissara Perera, Shamindra Eranga, Sachitra Senanayeke and Upul Tharanga.

ODI Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (C), Angelo Mathews, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Dilshan Munaweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Akila Dhananjaya, Thissara Perera, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulesekera, Lasith Malinga, Tharindu Kaushal, Sachitra Senanayeke and Upul Tharanga.