The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has announced its formidable team which will take part in five ODIs vs. India under the captaincy of Mahela Jayawardene.
The Lankan Lions have found their rhythm back after defeating the challenging unit of Pakistan recently. The two Twenty20 match series was drawn at 1-1, five One Day International series was grabbed by Sri Lanka convincingly by a margin of 3-1 and they went on to win the three Test series 1-0.
The national selectors have announced a balanced side which can provide positive results against the strong Blue Shirts. The young quickie Isuru Udana has been included in the 15- member squad and he is in sight of making his debut in the ODIs. Chamara Kapugedara, a right hand promising batsman, has paved his way into the national team whereas the left arm spinner, Rangana Herath, has been brought back after being rested in the last three ODIs against the Green Shirts.
Isuru Udana
Isuru Udana Tilakaratna was born on February 17, 1988, in Balangoda, a left arm medium fast bowler and a right hand batsman. He has played for Sri Lanka, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, Sri Lanka A, Wayamba, Combined Provinces, Sri Lanka Under-20s School and Sri Lanka Under-19s.
The 24-year-old is a promising pacer who was in the lime lights during his school days and was picked up by the selectors to play for different domestic teams. He has the quality to bowl fast with a lot of movement on either side of the wicket and can bat well at the lower order.
Udana made his Twenty20 debut against Australia on June 8, 2009, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham and grabbed a couple of wickets as the Islanders won that game by a big margin of six wickets. He has appeared in 6 T20s, taken five wickets at an average of 36.40 with the best of 2-17. He has a bright future ahead of him and is capable of delivering more on an international level.
Chamara Kapugedara
Chamara Kantha Kapugedara was born on February 24, 1987, in Kandy, a right hand batsman and an occasional right arm medium fast bowler. He has played for Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka A, Chennai Super Kings, Kandurata and Colombo Cricket Club.
The 25-year-old is a talented batsman who believes in aggression and never comprises with any type of bowling. He started his cricket in the early age of 11 and groomed himself into an authentic batsman at the domestic level before he was provided a chance to represent the national side.
Kapugedara has played for Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game with adequate results. He made his ODI debut vs. Australia on January 29, 2006, at WACA, Perth and scored 22 runs. The right hand batsman has played 91 ODIs, scored 1512 runs at an average of 22.23, the best of 95 with 8 fifties. He appeared in his last ODI against Bangladesh in the 6th match of the Asia Cup held on March 20, 2012, at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, and scored 62 runs.
Squad:
Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana
The first ODI will be played on July 21, 2012, at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota.
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