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Big picture – SL’s first T20I since March

India return to T20Is with the afterglow of a maiden ODI World Cup title at home. But the spotlight now shifts to the shortest format. The first T20I against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam marks the start of a five-match series that makes up nearly half of India’s limited build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup in England. With just 11 T20Is scheduled before that tournament, India will be eager to build momentum and rhythm ahead of the global event.Since their group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup, India’s approach has been notably more aggressive. They have scored at the second-highest run rate in T20Is during this period, behind only Australia, among teams to have played at least five matches. Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Shafali Verma have all struck at 140-plus, signalling a batting unit intent on dictating terms. Results have broadly followed that shift: five wins from eight T20Is across two series, including a 3-2 victory over England in July, their only T20I assignment this year so far.While the batting appears largely settled, focus turns to the bowling attack. Renuka Singh returns; Radha Yadav, joint-leading wicket-taker for India since the 2024 World Cup, has been left out; and young left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma could make her international debut.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, arrive with a different set of priorities. Their last T20I came on a tour of New Zealand back in March, where they drew the three-match series 1-1. Since then, they have moved on from several senior players, and invested in youth for this tour. With Sri Lanka scheduled to tour West Indies in February and Bangladesh in March-April in 2026 ahead of the World Cup in June, this series is less about immediate outcomes and more about assessing how the new group copes against a confident Indian side.

Form guide

India: LWLWW
Sri Lanka: WLLLLSmriti Mandhana has struck at 146.80 in T20Is since last year’s World Cup•Getty Images

In the spotlight – Smriti Mandhana and Shashini Gimhani

Smriti Mandhana has been India’s most consistent T20I batter since the 2024 World Cup. Among players from Full Member nations, only Hayley Matthews has scored more runs in this period than Mandhana, who has piled up 414 runs, including a century and four half-centuries. She has averaged 51.75 and struck at an imposing 146.80 in this phase, anchoring India’s aggressive approach at the top. After a successful campaign at the ODI World Cup this year, Mandhana will look to continue that run into the T20 World Cup.Shashini Gimhani is one of Sri Lanka’s most exciting young talents. An ambidextrous spinner, she primarily bowls left-arm wristspin. Gimhani impressed with strong showings against Australia Under-19 in September, and has already taken six wickets in five T20Is at an economy of 5.53. With left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari dropped, one place in the squad remains vacant, giving Gimhani a chance to shine on the big stage.

Team news – Will India hand Vaishnavi a debut?

India like to field three seamers and as many spinners in the XI. With Radha out, the hosts might be tempted to hand Vaishnavi Sharma a cap, with Deepti Sharma and N Shree Charani occupying the other two spinners’ slots.India (probable): 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amanjot Kaur, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana/Vaishnavi Sharma, 9 Kranti Gaud/Arundhati Reddy, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 N Shree CharaniVaishnavi Sharma could make her India debut against Sri Lanka•ICC/Getty Images

Wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewni has been dropped, so Kaushini Nuthyangana is likely to replace her. Apart from the experienced Inoka Ranaweera, Sri Lanka also have Shashini Gimhani, Kawya Sewwandi, Rashmika Kavindi and uncapped Nimasha Madushani to choose from.Sri Lanka XI (probable): 1 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Vishmi Gunaratne, 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 4 Kavisha Dilhari, 5 Nilakshika Silva, 6 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 7 Manudi Nanayakkara, 8 Inoka Ranaweera/Nimasha Madushani, 9 Inoshi Priyadharshani, 10 Shashini Gimhani, 11 Malki Madara

Pitch and conditions

India Women last played a T20I in Visakhapatnam in 2014, also against Sri Lanka. In the six women’s T20Is at this venue, 115 has been the average first-innings total. However, it proved to be a high-scoring track during the recent ODI World Cup. Dew could play a factor as the match progresses. The forecast is for sunny conditions, with temperatures expected around 23 degree Celsius for the start of the game.

Stats and trivia

South African opener Loots Bosman will know on Monday whether he will be fit to play the Twenty20 World Championship which begins in South Africa on September 11.Bosman suffered an injury when trying to catch Tatenda Taibu off Dale Steyn at the boundary during the second ODI against Zimbabwe on August 25. He failed in his attempt, and instead crashed into the advertising boards, hurting his back in the process. He was carried off the field in a lot of pain and didn’t bat later in the afternoon. He was reported to have a prolapsed disc in his spine.”The latest verbal assessment we have of his [Bosman’s] condition is not encouraging,” South Africa coach Mickey Arthur told . “We are still waiting for a written report, but we will not make a final decision before Monday. There’s no sense in going into a two-week tournament with an injured player.”No one has been called up as cover as yet but Arthur had said that Bosman would have to be replaced if he wasn’t fit enough to play the first warm-up match on September 8.

New South Wales are looking to expand their international coaching contingent by attempting to lure Waqar Younis to the SCG. Waqar is currently working with the Pakistan squad in England and is contracted to the country until the World Cup, but David Gilbert, the Cricket New South Wales chief executive, said he was interested in signing him as the state’s bowling coach.”He was such an artist with his reverse-swing, and the outswing he would get with the new ball,” Gilbert said in the . “We would be crazy not to be interested in someone with those kind of skills, particularly when he lives in Castle Hill [in Sydney].”A bowling coach vacancy has appeared with the loss of Anthony Stuart, who took a one-day hat-trick against Pakistan in 1996-97, on a three-year deal with Wellington. The New South Wales ranks also include Graham Thorpe, the former England batsman who will become the side’s full-time batting mentor. Thorpe was a part-time appointment last season and his friendship with Waqar from their Surrey days may help strengthen the state’s support staff.

A company was used to mask the identity of brokers International Sports Marketing and to avoid revealing the identity of Digicel when the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) asked Cable & Wireless to match their rival’s bid.This was revealed in the report of the Sponsorship Negotiations Review Committee (SNRC) handed in by Justice Anthony Lucky to newly-elected WICB president Ken Gordon on August 15 and which will be discussed at an executive board meeting on September 4 in St John’s, Antigua.And the firm is to have collected a 10% commission on the deal even though the WICB Chief Marketing Officer Darren Millien, who took over that post in September 2003 from then WICB president Teddy Griffith, claimed to have no knowledge of this aspect of the commission agreement that was signed on February 23, 2004.ISM had had a business relationship with the Ireland-based telecommunications company Digicel and evidence given by ISM director David Brookes showed where ISM deliberately used the sevices of a firm referred to as SBI to “mask the indentity” of Digicel to Cable & Wireless (C&W).”The reason for this,” Brookes explained to the SNRC, “was because I had been informed that during the negotiations, Cable & Wireless had a clause in their contract whereby they had a right to see any offer made to the WICB for team sponsorship, and furthermore, had a two-week period to match any such offer.”Brookes continued: “Naturally knowing of the highly competitive commercial nature of the C&W/Digicel relationship, I assumed that C&W would not wish to be replaced by a competitor and, therefore, would automatically match the offer if they were aware it was on behalf of Digicel. I felt this put Digicel at an unfair disadvantage and because ISM had worked with Digicel in the past, ISM could be easily linked to them. To avoid this, I hired the services of SBI simply for client confidentiality reasons with the aim of ensuring that the Digicel offer was viewed fairly, reasonably and on a level playing field that C&W were therefore given the right to match this offer.”Millien told the committee that Griffith and WICB CEO Roger Brathwaite were the “driving forces” behind the negotiations to secure Digicel as the main sponsors. “The only people that received the offer were the chief executive officer and the president because they had to sign non-disclosure agreements as to the terms of the agreement and who it was, so there were some high level discussions going on at that point.”Asked if he was brought in after the agreement with Digicel was a fait accompli, Millien answered in the affirmative. Millien further recalled Griffith and Brathwaite stating to him that “this is what we have agreed to and we want you guys to hammer out a contract. So to that extent, I got my first meeting with Digicel attorneys and ISM/SBI in Jamaica,” he stated of his mid-June 2004 meeting with them.So who brought SBI into the matter? “I don’t know,” he stated. “We were just thinking this is a broker. We did not know if it was a bank appoaching us, a financial institution, a cellular entity, a mortgage company. We did not know.”Millien also disavowed knowledge of the 10% commission for SBI before asking the committee to refer the question to the WICB CEO when they showed him a copy of the February 23 commission agreement. “I never knew that there was a 10% commission for SBI in the negotiations,” he stated, “I know there was a commission payable but my understanding was that it was for bringing the deal, like a finder’s fee and that was it. During the course of this tour, I was informed it was paid on what the players get and that kind of thing.”Before negotiations had reached this stage, there were other conflicting reports according to the SNRC report. After informing the WICB by letter on March 16, 2004, that they decided not to match SBI’s rival alleged bid, C&W general manager in Barbados David Austin indicated that he approached then WICB president Griffith with a verbal offer of US$4 million for the Home series only “sometime between March 17 – March 20, 2004.”However, when Austin contacted Griffith on March 29, 2004, the then WICB president said he had already met with “potential new sponsors and that there was a 21-day exclusive discussion agreement with this party”, making Griffith “unable to consider” C&W’s offer at the time. That 21-day exclusivity position was reiterated on that same day by WICB CEO Roger Brathwaite at a function for the West Indies cricket team.However, when the committee questioned Digicel’s Business Development Director and Sponsor Relations Liam Mc Dermott about the exclusive agreement, he responded: “The Review Committe referred to a “21-day exclusivity letter” signed at the meeting in March 2004. No exclusivity agreement was signed at the end of that meeting. An exclusivity agreement was however signed at the end of May 2004 in the circumstances set out below.”In March 2004, Mc Dermott went on to explain that Digicel, who had indicated their interest in sponsoring West Indies cricket “albeit informally” whilst sponsoring a golf tournament in Jamaica “some time before 2003, was advised that Cable & Wireless “had declined to match its offer and accordingly the WICB was prepared to meet with Digicel and negotiate terms under which Digicel would become the new principal sponor of West Indies Cricket.”

Kenya’s disgraced former captain, Maurice Odumbe, who was yesterday banned for five years after accepting bribes from an Indian bookmaker, has vowed to appeal against his suspension.Odumbe, who was found guilty on 12 charges of corruption by the former Zimbabwean Supreme Court judge, Ahmed Ebrahim, declared that he was “shocked and surprised” by the decision.”We shall fight this, we shall fight it to the end,” said Odumbe’s lawyer, Ishan Kapila, at a press conference in Nairobi. But Odumbe faces a tough battle if he is to clear his name. ICC, which has received a copy of the Ebrahim Report, described the decision as “entirely appropriate”, and Kenya will now have to find a replacement for their Champions Trophy squad.Odumbe has at least received support from his captain, Steve Tikolo, who called the Kenya Cricket Association’s decision “unfair”, adding that the news had affected the morale of the team. “I have known Odumbe for a long time and he always gives 100 percent in his appearances,” said Tikolo. “He has been an integral part of this team and his absence will affect our performance in the future.”Odumbe played in 61 one-day internationals, and captained Kenya to a famous victory over West Indies at Pune in 1996. He won a Man-of-the-Match award in three consecutive World Cups, most recently against Bangladesh at Johannesburg in 2003, when his unbeaten 52 and a four-wicket haul carried Kenya towards the semi-finals.

The England Coach Duncan Fletcher has made the following decision regarding the availability of England’s contracted players to their Counties ahead of the 1st npower Test Match at Edgbaston on July 24th.Ashley Giles will be able to play for Warwickshire against Middlesex in a four-day game starting on Tuesday and Stephen Harmison will be available to Durham for their four-day game against Yorkshire, also starting on Tuesday.But England have asked Warwickshire to rest Giles from tomorrow’s NCL match against Surrey and next Saturday’s Twenty/20 Cup Final at Trent Bridge. Harmison will also be rested from Durham’s NCL match against Northamptonshire tomorrow.Four other members of England’s NatWest Series squad, James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan will be rested from all County fixtures ahead of the 1st npower Test.Nasser Hussain will be available to Essex for their NCL fixtures this week against Glamorgan tomorrow and Gloucestershire on Thursday. Mark Butcher and Alec Stewart will be rested from Saturday’s Twenty/20 Cup Final at Trent Bridge but available to Surrey for their NCL match against Warwickshire tomorrow and three-day game against India ‘A’ starting on Tuesday.All of England’s non-contracted players who featured in the NatWest Series will be available to their Counties for tomorrow’s NCL matches – subject to fitness.

As the West Indies start their current tour of Sri Lanka,Tony Cozier, who will cover the Tests and One-DayInternationals for THE NATION newspapers, provides a playerby-player assessment of the team.Carl Hooper: As he has immediately shown, he, morethan anyone, is the key to success. Already a quality, butenigmatic, all-round cricketer, his promotion to thecaptaincy has revealed a changed character, a leader lookedup to by the young brigade. A master against spin, he cangive the lead in countering the menace of Muralitheran.Ridley Jacobs: A damaged finger might have kept someother keepers at home but Jacobs has repeatedly proved he’smade of much sterner stuff. There is no more valuable memberof the team, on the field or in the dressing room, and, ifhe’ll find Murali’s spin more of a puzzle than some of theothers, he won’t be intimidated by it.Chris Gayle: No recent young batsman has scored asheavily or consistently or punched the ball harder. Hisappetite for runs and will to improve were evidenced in asuccession of hundreds in Zimbabwe and Kenya and then on hisreturn home. Now comes a different challenge in newconditions against one of the finest off-spinners of alltime on his own patch.Daren Ganga: Yet another overseas assignment tofollow previous tours of South Africa, New Zealand,Australia, Zimbabwe and Kenya. On the latter trips, therewas a growing confidence, more purpose to his strokes and adeveloping opening partnership with Gayle.Leon Garrick: Small, right-handed and compact, he andGayle formed an effective, right-handed/left-handed, Muttand-Jeff opening combination for Jamaica last season. Adebut Test against South Africa (with a first-balldismissal) and limited opportunities in Zimbabwe and Kenyahave left him with still a lot to prove.Wavell Hinds: Once his broken nose is mended in timeand he manages to make it on to the field, there is plentyof lost ground to make up. A promising start that includedan innings of 165 against the powerful Pakistanis in hisfifth Test has been followed by inconsistent returns. InChanderpaul’s absence, the No.3 spot is vacant but the onlyway back is by regular scores.Brian Lara: As always, there are more questions thananswers to the game’s most mercurial personality. Is he fitenough? Is he eager enough? Does he still care? Is he pastit? Not all will be answered in the coming six weeks but, inthe mood, the incomparable left-hander remains a potentialmatch-winner.Ramnaresh Sarwan: Still only 21, he is at the startof what could be a long and prosperous career. In his shorttime, he’s had Tests against five opponents in fourdifferent countries and now comes another. His nimblefootwork, quick eye and flexible wrists are marks of aspecial batsman, yet not more so than runs. But is No.3 hisideal position?Marlon Samuels: It’s less than a year since, aged 19,he was pitchforked into the tough Test series in Australiaand handled it with the aplomb of a seasoned campaigner.Things come easily to an obviously talented cricketer but heshould appreciate by now that Test cricket is not an easygame, not least in Sri Lanka. The time is now for a maidenfirst-class hundred and a few more besides.Neil McGarrell: A captain’s pick during last season’sseries against South Africa, he has delivered his left-armspin capably in his three Tests, with four wickets in aninnings three times out of six. A streetwise cricketer, heis always competitive and his attitude is clearly valued byHooper.Dinanath Ramnarine: Just when he seemed to havesecured a settled place in the team, with 20 wickets in thehome series against South Africa, a back strain sent himhome from Zimbabwe. If pitches encourage turn, as they oncedid, his leg-breaks and googlies should be a significantpart of the West Indies’ strategy.Merv Dillon: Out of the Test XI for more than a yearand-ahalf, Dillon’s 39 wickets (at 27.72) in his last nineTests on return, against the might of Australia and SouthAfrica, seemed to mark him as the one to lead the attack onCourtney Walsh’s retirement. A knee injury sidelined him forthe Tests in Zimbabwe in July but he remains the frontrunner in the fast bowling stakes.Pedro Collins: Since first coming into the Test teamover three years ago against Australia as a sharp leftarmer, he’s had a patchy time of it. Mainly through a backproblem, there was a break of more than three years betweenTests before he played against Zimbabwe in July. Fit again,his form has been good, his enthusiasm obvious. He could bea surprise packet.Colin Stuart: Aged 28 and around for some time, hestepped in to fill the breach left by Walsh’s retirement andinjuries to Dillon and Cameron Cuffy in Zimbabwe. He bowledfast and straight and never stopped trying. They areattributes he will need against batsmen of higher qualitynow.Reon King: A couple of years back, he looked thegenuine article, distinctly quick with good control and theability to move the ball. He hasn’t been the same sincedamaging his foot on the tour of England last year but, onhis day, is the likeliest wicket-taker.Marlon Black: Fast with a nice outswinger, he hadfour good Australian wickets in his first bowl in Testcricket last season. By the fourth Test, he was out of theteam and later so badly mugged in a Melbourne street he wassidelined for over two months. His future in West Indiescricket probably depends on how he goes here.

Scorecard1:42

Australia hold off England at the Ageas Bowl

A seventh-wicket partnership of 112 in 13 overs between Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh proved the difference between the sides in the first ODI of the series between England and Australia in Southampton.When the pair came together Australia were precariously placed on 193 for 6 and had just lost three wickets for 15 runs. But Wade, timing the ball as well as anyone, produced his highest ODI score since August 2012 – and his highest ever against a Full Member nation – as Australia added 93 from the final 10 overs.That took Australia’s total above 300 and, while the game has changed up to a point, the fact remains that England have only three times successfully chased a target of that magnitude. Only once have they successfully chased a target higher than the one they were set here.There was talk, at the halfway stage of the game, that the Australia total was little better than par. And it is true that, in the context of the run-drenched ODI series against New Zealand earlier this season, a score of 305 seemed pretty modest.But maybe in time we will come to see that series – played on perfect batting pitches and with playing regulations that favoured batsmen to an extreme extent – as somewhat aberrational. This was the first ODI in England played under the new playing regulations which allow the fielding captain more scope to defend. It is too early to say for sure what the effects will be, but it seems reasonable to presume they will rein in totals just a little.England’s openers set off well enough but eventually, against a disciplined attack, the pressure of sustaining such a run chase began to tell. And, once their innings lost momentum, wickets followed.This was a performance that represented a fine return from Wade. He missed out on World Cup selection after Brad Haddin’s superior keeping and extra experience – and his own failure to nail down a place in the 47 ODIs he had played up to that point – was favoured.Until that point, Wade was averaging in the mid-20s and, after a decent start to his ODI career (he made three half-centuries in his first nine innings), had contributed just one half-century in 22 innings.He didn’t enjoy a good start here, either. Attempting to get off the mark, he pushed a delivery straight to the cover fielder – Ben Stokes of all people – and set off for an almost impossible run that left his partner, the unfortunate Shane Watson, yards short of his ground.But after that moment of madness, he demonstrated a fine range of strokes, a selflessness and an ability to improvise – one sweep off Stokes was especially eye-catching – to suggest that, aged 27, he has the ability, the time and now the maturity to make a success of his second chance in international cricket. He also kept athletically and claimed three catches.Certainly Australia were grateful for his contribution. While David Warner and Joe Burns ensured a bright enough start, Australia lost their way in mid-innings due to the introduction of England’s spinners and some self-inflicted errors. First Burns hit a full toss straight back at the bowler, before Steven Smith slogged another straight to the fielder on the deep midwicket boundary.Adil Rashid was the fortunate bowler on both occasions but, in between times, this was a decent performance from the legspinner. Encouraged to think of himself as a wicket-taking bowler, even in this format of the game, he turned the ball both ways and generally maintained a decent, demanding length. On another day the wicket of Warner, who again looked in fine form but was defeated by a googly and sliced to short third man, might have proved crucial, while Rashid could also take pride in the wicket of George Bailey, beaten by one that skidded on.Moeen Ali, gaining more drift and dip than at any time this summer, also bowled nicely and was the most economical of England’s bowlers. But the seamers claimed only one wicket between them – and that from what might well have been called a leg side wide had Glenn Maxwell not feathered it – which gave Australia the opportunity to launch a counterattack in the final overs.England’s reply started well, too. Jason Roy, timing the ball as well as he ever has done in an England shirt, raced to his maiden international half-century and with Alex Hales posted a first-wicket stand of 70 in 11 overs. It is a partnership of elegant brutality that promises much for the future.But after Hales pulled to midwicket, James Taylor was unable to capitalise on his decent start and became bogged down against the impressively tight bowling of Watson and Maxwell. Roy sliced to point, Taylor played across a straight one and Eoin Morgan’s uncomfortable innings was ended when he gloved an attempted pull down the leg side.That wicket seemed to break the back of England’s resistance. Stokes’ unconvincing innings was ended by a flick to midwicket, Jos Buttler drive to mid-off and, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins bowling with impressive pace, the tail were never likely to stay with Moeen long enough to get close.England have now lost 10 of their last 11 ODIs against Australia. The margin was not as large as the last time they met – on the opening day of the World Cup in February – but Australia showed that, even with four changes to the side that lifted that trophy, they remain a tough team to beat in ODI cricket.

Sam Harper’s maiden BBL century blasted Melbourne Stars to their best start to a season in 12 years with a seven-wicket win over Sydney Sixers.On a night when Peter Siddle, at the age of 41, narrowly missed out on his first BBL hat-trick, Harper smashed an unbeaten 110 from 60 balls to help Stars chase down 145 with 15 deliveries to spare. In what was easily the best game of Harper’s BBL career, he took to Kane Richardson and brought up his century off just 50 balls at the SCG.After going the past two BBL summers without a half-century, Harper now has scores of 55 and 110 not out to start this season.Victory means Stars have won their opening three games for the first time since they went undefeated through the regular season in 2013-14. Sixers, in contrast, are struggling with one win from four games.Harper was the cause of most of Sixers’ pain on Boxing Day, hitting six sixes in total and taking 41 runs off two overs from Richardson alone. The manner in which he did so was brutal, twice making use of the shorter side by pulling Richardson into the Bill O’Reilly Stand. When Richardson swapped ends, Harper again made use of the dimensions, hitting the quick over cover for another six.Peter Siddle picked up three wickets•Getty Images

Harper also hit the former Australia white-ball quick to the rope five other times, before taking on Jack Edwards in similar fashion. He brought up his hundred when he top-edged the allrounder over a short third man, after twice clearing the rope earlier in the over.Earlier, Siddle continued his superb start to the season with 3 for 23 from four overs after he also claimed 3-30 in the Stars’ opener against Hobart. He had Jordan Silk caught at cover from the final ball of the 16th over, before returning and getting Joel Davies at long off from the first ball of the 19th.But Jonathan Merlo put down a tough chance at point to remove Sean Abbott first ball, denying the former Test star his hat-trick.Tom Curran also enjoyed some success over his old club, picking up a crucial 3 for 26 with the ball. A six-season player with Sixers, Curran left the club after the 2023-24 season, when he was suspended for four matches for pushing a fourth umpire.Curran got the key wicket of Daniel Hughes, after the opener had played a lone hand with 60 off 42 balls, with the Sixers 90 for 3 when he was dismissed in the 13th over. He also rid of Babar Azam for 2 and the dangerous Edwards for 11, with Sixers all out from the last ball of the 20th over.

Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been released from his central contract with Sri Lanka cricket (SLC), as per his earlier request.”We decided at this evening’s committee meeting to release Marvan Atapattu from his contract from October 1,” Kangadaran Mathivanan, board secretary told .Though not official, the decision is likely to mean the end of the road for Atapattu as an international cricketer. Atapattu made his debut in 1990 and was one of the more elegant opening batsmen in contemporary cricket, scoring 5,330 runs in 88 Tests and 8,529 runs in ODIs.Earlier, Atapattu had asked to be released from his contract, without citing any specific reason. “We received a letter on Friday addressed to Duleep Mendis requesting release from his contract,” Mathivanan told Cricinfo.Atapattu’s current contract was supposed to run until March 2008 and he was one of only six players with ‘A’ graded contracts. He is currently playing for the Lashings XI in England.The development caps an uncertain period for Atapattu, during which he was overlooked by the Sri Lankan selectors for the World Cup in the West Indies and the subsequent tour to Abu Dhabi for the one-day series with Pakistan.Atapattu then announced his unavailability for the home series against Bangladesh citing personal reasons. The speculation is that Atapattu’s decision has come about because his name has been linked with the Indian Cricket League (ICL).