Why Did Sri Lanka Leave Out Dasun Shanaka From AFG ODIs?

image-lsf0b5mlDasun Shanaka (X.com)

The Sri Lankan cricket board has lately been a part of a series of controversies considering their ban by the ICC, suspension of the complete team management and appointment of new captains. The team management has recently taken a bold step as they decided to drop their former captain Dasun Shanaka from the team’s upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan.

Shanaka has served as the skipper of Sri Lankan cricket for years now and has lately been struggling with form in the longer white ball format. Notably, he failed to put a considerable amount of runs In both Asia cup and ICC ODI Men’s World Cup 2023, which pushed the Sri Lankan management to drop the middle order batsman.

Sri Lanka and Afghanistan were involved in a high scoring encounter where Pathum Nissanka struck first double century in ODIs for Sri Lanka. Azmatullah Omarzai and Nabi struck centuries for Afghanistan but it was not enough as Sri Lanka managed to clinch the game by 42 runs. 

Apart from Dasun Shanaka, the SriLankan team management has also dropped Nuwanidu Fernando along with the spin bowler Jeffrey Vandersay from the upcoming series.

The hosts have shown utmost confidence in their top order batsman Kusal Mendis who has been a phenomenal find for the team in white ball cricket. On the other hand, the Afghan camp has backed their young player Hashmatullah Shahidi as the captain who has lately showcased an incredible skill set for the team in international cricket.

Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan full squads

Sri Lanka’s full squad: Kusal Mendis (c), Charith Asalanka (vc), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Janith Liyanage, Sadeera Samarawickrama,Wanindu Hasaranga, Dilshan Madushanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Dushmantha Chameera, Sahan Arachchige, Akila Dananjaya, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, and Shevon Daniel.


Afghanistan’s full squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rahmat Shah (vc), Ikram Alikhil (WK), Riaz Hassan, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib,Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran and Farid Ahmad Malik.