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| May 28, 2003 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 25,1424 |
Atapattu retained as ODI captain
COLOMBO, May 27: Batsman Marvan Atapattu has been retained as Sri Lanka captain for the three-match one-day series in the West Indies next month.
Atapattu, who took over the one-day captaincy from Sanath Jayasuriya in early May, has kept the job despite Sri Lanka’s failure this month to qualify for a home tri-series final for the first time.
“You can’t judge a man on one series alone,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, when the 15-man squad was named on Tuesday.
“It was the batting that lost us the trophy. The top order just needs to regain its form.”
The selectors made two changes, axing middle-order batsman Russel Arnold and all-rounder Kaushalya Weereratne.
Naveed Nawaz, a 29-year-old left-hander, who played the last of his three One-day Internationals against India at The Oval in 2002, takes Arnold’s place.
Dinusha Fernando, a 23-year-old uncapped swing bowler, replaces Weeraratne, who played just one game in this month’s tri-series.
Fast bowler Dilhara Fernando has failed to recover fully from a lower back injury and was not considered for selection.
Sri Lanka are due to play three One-day Internationals in the West Indies, starting on June 7 at Barbados, followed by two Test matches.
The squad for the Test series will be announced at the end of next week after a three-day practice game.
One-day squad: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain),Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Naveed Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, Prabath Nissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dinusha Fernando.—Reuters
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