Week in Sports by Ishan Samaraweera
View(s):This segment gives our readers brief updates on all the sporting action that happened during the course of the week. This week, we feature the official announcements of their respective squads for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Sri Lanka
Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis and Milinda Siriwardanehave been included in the 15 member squad. The squad also features 21-year-old opening batsman Avishka Fernando, despite his disastrous tour of South Africa last month. Nuwan Pradeep also makes a comeback in to the team.
Surprisingly Dinesh Chandimal was not included in the squad. He was the captain of the ODI team as recently as October 2018 unfortunately there were doubts about Chandimal’s future in the 50-over format.
Squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), LasithMalinga, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Isuru Udana, Milinda Siriwardana, Avishka Fernando, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal.
India
India announced their 15 member squad for the ICC cricket World Cup 2019 with K.L. Rahul being picked as a reserve opener for Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. The squad was announced during the press conference held on April 15.
Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik
Australia
David Warner and Steven smith will be representing Australia country after a lapse of an year after their bans were lifted on March 29 this year. Aaron Finch will be captaining Australia.
Squad: Aaron Finch (Captain), David Warner, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh announced their 15 man squad for the World Cup which comes under the captaincy of Mashrafe Mortaza.
Squad: Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Jayed, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain
Pakistan
Sarfraz Ahamed will lead Pakistan in the World Cup as Mohammad Hafeez, who is recovering from a thumb injury, is expected to recover in time for the world tournament.
Squad: Fakha rZaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez (subject to fitness), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Captain/wk), Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Sohail
South Africa
South Africa has included opener Hashim Amla into their World Cup squad under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis.
Squad: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, JP Duminy, Dwaine Pretorius, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi