The national selectors have once again kept faith with the 14member victorious World Cup squad for the four-nation Singer World Series to be worked off in Sri Lanka starting on August 26.
Zimbabwe, one of the four teams participating in the Singer World Series along with Australia, India and the hosts Sri Lanka, will stay back to play two Tests next month. But Sri Lanka is yet to name its 16-member squad for its first ever home Test series against Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka has played a Test series in Zimbabwe before but this is the first time that a Zimbabwe Test team is playing on Lankan soil.
The first-ever home cricket Test against Zimbabwe to be played in Sri Lanka from September 11 to 15 will be played in Moratuwa. The second Test will take place at the SSC grounds from September 18-22.
On completion of the Test series against Zimbabwe, world champions Sri Lanka will tour Kenya to play in a four-nation one-day tournament from September 28 to October 7. The Sri Lanka team is also down to play in the Sharjah Champions trophy tournament later this year.
World Cup champions Sri Lanka will play their opening match of the second four-nation Singer World Series limited-over cricket tournament against India under lights at the R. Premadasa Inter- national Stadium on August 28. But the curtain-raiser of the tournament will be a day/night game between World Cup runner-up Australia and Zimbabwe at the same venue on August 26.
The four participating teams - defending champions India, host Sri Lanka, Australia and Zimbabwe play each other once on a league basis with the top two sides qualifying to play in the final on September 7. The winners standing to collect prize money worth US$ 50,000 - US$ 35,000 more than what the winners India received at the inaugural tournament two years ago. The runner-up will get US$ 25,000.
Sri Lanka Squad: Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Aravinda de Silva, (vice captain), Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinha, Hashan Tillakaratne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Kumara Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Marvan Atapattu, Ravindra Pushpakumara.