On Monday, March 18, Sri Lanka Cricket (S.L.C.) announced the 17-member squad of the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team for the upcoming test series against the bangladesh national cricket team, and the biggest news was the return of Wanindu Hasaranga to the red ball setup.
On August 15, 2023, Sri Lanka star all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga shocked the cricket world by announcing his retirement from the longest format of the game. He was only 26 years old when he announced his retirement from Test cricket.
Hasaranga decided to move away from red-ball cricket completely to be more available for franchise cricket tournaments around the world.
The star all-rounder has appeared in 4 Test matches for the country and has been very ineffective with the ball, picking up only 4 wickets. With the bat he scored 196 runs at an average of 28.00. When he announced his retirement from Tests, he was not a regular member of the team. However, with his recent return, he is expected to appear regularly in Test cricket for the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.
Meanwhile, the Test series between the Sri Lanka national cricket team and the Bangladesh national cricket team is part of Sri Lanka’s tour of Bangladesh 2024. The series consists of a three-match T20I series and an ODI series of three games, as well as a two-game series. matches the test series.
The white-ball leg of the tour has already concluded with Lankan Lions winning 2-1 in the T20I series and Bangla Tigers winning 2-1 in the ODI series. The first Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played from Friday, March 22 in Sylhet. The second and final Test match of the series is scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 30, in Chattogram.
Wanindu Hasaranga regains Test retirement by being included in Sri Lanka squad
In an official press release, SLC confirmed that Hasaranga will feature against Bangladesh in the Test series. With his return to the Test setup, he will miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 until April 3.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won him over in the IPL 2024 auction for his base price of Rs 1.50 crore, which came as a surprise to many as he was one of the hottest properties in the auction pool. It was a massive demotion for Wanindu Hasaranga as he was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with a salary of INR 10.75 crore in the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons.
Wanindu Hasaranga’s absence might not be a big problem for the franchise as they have an exceptionally strong foreign contingent for the IPL 2024 season.
Meanwhile, Dhananjaya De Silva will continue to lead the strong Sri Lankan team with Kusal Mendis as his backup. They currently sit at the bottom of the ICC World Test Championship points table and would look to add points to their tally.
“The Honorable Minister of Sports and Youth, Harin Fernando, approved the template. The two-match Test series will begin on March 22 at SICS, Sylhet,” SLC said.
Sri Lanka squad for Bangladesh Tests: Dhananjaya De Silva – Captain, Kusal Mendis – Vice-Captain, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Lahiru Udara, Wanindu Hasaranga, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Nishan Peiris, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando , Lahiru Kumara, Chamika Gunasekara