Chairman of Selectors Sanath Jayasuirya has convinced former captain Kumar Sangakkara to come out of retirement with the national cricket team in dire straits. Sri Lanka are in danger of not earning automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales in 2019 with the team hitting new lows. Sri Lanka are currently ranked sixth in ICC standings and even though if the hosts lose today’s third ODI against Bangladesh at SSC they will not slip down to number seven, Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies are breathing down their neck.
Only the top seven ranked teams plus hosts England will automatically qualify for the World Cup and Jayasuriya has convinced Sangankkara to at least play till September this year.
This means that Sangakkara will be available for the Champions Trophy in England and the five match ODI series against India in August. The cut off date for automatic qualification for the World Cup is September 30th.
"Sanga has been in good form for Surrey in County Cricket and he has agreed to play at least until September," Jayasuriya told The Island.
"We have been talking to him for sometime now, but we didn’t want to make it public as we wanted to surprise Bangladesh," Jayasuriya added.
"I will be 40 this year and it was a huge call to make. Desperate times need desperate measures and given the status of the team, I have decided to come out of retirement," Sangakkara told The Island.
Bangladesh are 1-0 up in the series and with the second ODI washed off, the hosts can only square the series. Sri Lanka have never lost an ODI series to Bangladesh.
"There has been criticism and the pressure is on us. We’ve got to cop it if we’re not performing. That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to go out there and give everything we have. Then if we lose the game then Bangladesh has played very, very good cricket. That’s what we’ll have to do tomorrow," Sri Lanka’s Cricket Manager Asanka Gurusinha told journalists.
Bangladesh have been very good at home since the 2015 World Cup as they have recorded series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa, but there have been fewer opportunities for them away from home. In the last two years, they have played only one ODI series away from home prior to the current series.
"We will become a truly good team only when we start winning maximum matches away. Here we have won a Test match and an ODI. So, the progress will not happen all at once. In away matches, for example we had no clue about the Dambulla wicket – it was supposedly new. We played here a long time ago. So it is difficult to adjust to these things; it will change slowly," Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza told journalists.
Both teams are unlikely to do any changes from the sides that played in Dambulla on Tuesday. Struggling opener Danushka Gunatilleke will retain his place as opener Kusal Perera has not recovered sufficiently from his hamstring injury.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan, Mehedi Hasan
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga (c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Vikum Sanjaya, Thisara Perera, Sachith Pathirana, Seekkuge Prassanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Milinda Siriwardene, Nuwan Pradeep, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilruwan Perera, Kumar Sangakkara.
Source : The Island