da imperador bet： Injuries to two key players, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas, have forcedSri Lanka’s selectors to name an expanded squad for the two-Test seriesagainst Pakistan, which gets underway at the SSC on Sunday
da dobrowin： Sa'adi Thawfeeq23-Mar-2006
Mahela Jayawardene: upbeat about Chaminda Vaas’s prospects © AFP
Injuries to two key players, Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas, have forcedSri Lanka’s selectors to name an expanded squad for the two-Test seriesagainst Pakistan, which gets underway at the SSC on Sunday.Both players have been named in an unusually large 18-man squad, subjectto fitness. Sri Lanka normally goes with a 15 or 16-man squad for a Test series, but Michael Vandort and Ian Daniel have been included as standby openers ifJayasuriya fails to recover from a thigh strain.Nuwan Kulasekera and Dammika Prasad, meanwhile have been named as cover for Vaas who is suffering from a side strain. Jayasuriya and Vaas were left out of the recently concluded one-day series which Pakistan won 2-0.Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, Mahela Jayawardene, said on Wednesday thatJayasuriya had more chance of playing in the first Test than Vaas.”Sanath is recovering very well,” said Jayawardene. “If he thinks that he can manage a Testmatch and the physio also agrees, we will include him. We still have three more days to go. He is an experienced cricketer and we definitely would like to have him.””We don’t want to take any risks with Vaasy. Unless he is 100 percent fit we don’t want to play him. He is very important for the England tour.”Another fast bowler, Ruchira Perera, who is recovering from a hamstringinjury, has been ruled out of the series.Squad (subject to Sports Ministry ratification) MahelaJayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya,Upul Tharanga, Michael van Dort, Ian Daniel, Tillakaratne Dilshan, TilanSamaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, LasithMalinga, Dammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dilhara Fernando, MuttiahMuralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Sajeewa Weerakoon.
