Sri Lanka squad for 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup named

The squad will be led by their regular skipper and star batter Chamari Athapaththu. They will kickstart their campaign with the tournament opener against hosts South Africa on 10 February.

Sri Lanka will enter the T20 World Cup with aims of improving their modest record of eight wins in 27 appearances at the event. Their sole success in the 2020 edition was a resounding nine-wicket win against Bangladesh.

They are placed in Group A of the tournament, along with South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh. 

The team will place its bet on Athapaththu, their most successful batter in Women’s T20Is, at the top. Harshitha Samarawickrama, whose recent exploits include a match-winning 81 from 69 against Thailand in Asia Cup 2022, also bats in the top-order.

Wicketkeeper-batter Anushka Sanjeewani has also featured as an opener, though of late she has been accorded the role of a floater. Nilakshi de Silva and Kavisha Dilhari will feature in the middle-order.

Dilhari is also a handy off-spinner, with 16 T20I wickets to her name. Another all-round option is the experienced Oshadi Ranasinghe, who picked 23 wickets at an average of 15.56 last year.

Sri Lanka will bank heavily on their spinners in South Africa. Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari, both slow left-arm orthodox spinners, will be the backbone of their attack. With 68 T20I wickets, Ranaweera is the second-most successful Sri Lanka bowler in the Women’s T20Is.

Sri Lanka are unfortunate to miss out on the services of Hasini Perera, who was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a finger injury during practice. Sathya Sandeepani has been named as her replacement.

Tharika Sewwandi, Ama Kanchana, Achini Kulasuriya and Sandeepani are among the pace bowlers that the side can call upon during their campaign.

Vishmi Gunaratne, who captained Sri Lanka in the recently concluded ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, is also a part of the squad. The player was Sri Lanka’s best batter in the U19 World Cup with 134 runs at an average of 44.66.

Squad: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Oshadi Ranasinghe, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Vishmi Gunaratne, Tharika Sewwandi, Ama Kanchana, Sathya Sandeepani.

Source: ICC