Royal’s Sineth Jayawardena to lead Sri Lanka Youth
Sineth Jayawardena of Royal College, Colombo has been picked to lead the 15-member Sri Lanka Under-19 team for the forthcoming ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup, scheduled to be held from January 19 to February 11 in South Africa.
The team, subject to Sports Minister’s approval, comprises of players who were members of the team which tasted success against the West Indies played at home and Pakistan U19 played away, but had an unsuccessful tour in the recent Asia Men’s U-19 Asia Cup held in Dubai. The former list of players retained are skipper Jayawardena, his deputy Malsha Tharupathi, Dinura Kalupahana, Vihas Thewmika, Garuka Sanketh, Vishwa Lahiru, Pulindu Perera, Ruvishan Perera, Rusanda Gamage, Sharujan Shanmuganathan, Ravishan Nethsara and Vishen Halambage. The only change from the team that participated in U-19 Asia Cup is the inclusion of Supun Waduge, who comes in place of his school mate Dinuka Tennekoon.
Sixteen teams are billed to be in the fray with 11 teams securing automatic qualifications according to their standings after the completion of the previous edition which includes defending champions India, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ireland, West Indies, Zimbabwe and hosts South Africa. The remaining five teams — Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Scotland and USA — were selected after the completion of the regional qualification tournaments.
The 16 teams are divided into four groups of four teams in each group with Group ‘A’ comprising India, Bangladesh, USA, Ireland, Group ‘B’ including South Africa, England, West Indies, Scotland, Group ‘C’ consisting of Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Group ‘D’, featuring Pakistan, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Nepal. A total of 41 matches are scheduled to be played inclusive of the two semi-finals on February 6 and 8 and the final on February 11 with all three matches slotted to be played at Willomoore Park.
Sri Lanka U-19s are scheduled to leave the island on January 10 and will play two warm up matches against Bangladesh on January 14 and India on January 17. Sri Lanka will begin their campaign on January 21 with the match against Zimbabwe, followed by the game against Namibia on January 23 and Australia on January 28.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka, but with ICC suspension on Sri Lanka Cricket it was shifted to South Africa. The players have undergone strenuous training under the guidance of head coach Jehan Mubarak and his assistant Sampath Perera, fast bowling coach Chamila Gamage, spin coach Sachith Pathirana and fielding coach Gayan Wijekoon.
| The Squad: Sineth Jayawardena (Captain – Royal), Malsha Tharupathi (Vice Captain – Richmond), Pulindu Perera (Dharmaraja), Vishen Halambage (St. Peter’s), Ravishan Nethsara (P. de S. Kularatne Ambalangoda), Sharujan Shanmuganathan (St. Benedict’s), Dinura Kalupahana (Mahinda), Vihas Thewmika (Thurstan), Vishwa Lahiru (Sri Sumangala Panadura), Garuka Sanketh (Lyceum Wattala), Ruvishan Perera (Ananda), Rusanda Gamage (St. Peter’s), Hirun Kapurubandara (St. Joseph’s), Supun Waduge (Trinity), Duvindu Ranatunga (Mahanama) Travelling Reserves: Manula Kularatne (Trinity), Dinuka Tennekoon (Trinity), Hiran Jayasundara (St. Joseph’s) | |