Kalupahana leads Sri Lanka U19 on tour to England

Dinura Kalupahana 

• 18-player squad named for six-match tour

Dinura Kalupahana who was Sri Lanka’s leading run-getter at the last Under19 World Cup in South Africa will captain an 18-player squad for the Under19 cricket tour of England commencing next month.

Kalupahana, a product of Mahinda College, Galle scored three half-centuries in compiling an aggregate of 196 (avg. 39.20) in five matches for Sri Lanka in the U19 World Cup.

He is one of four players retained from the last U19 World Cup squad, the others being Pulindu Perera, Sharujan Shanmuganathan and Vihas Thewmika.

Former Sri Lankan cricketer and present Head Coach at High Performance Centre, Ruwan Kalpage will be the Head Coach for this tour with Dhammika Sudarshana as Batting Coach, Omesh Wijesiriwardena as Fast Bowling Coach, Ajanta Wattegama as Physiotherapist, Amila Pinnaduwa as Analyst, Dilruwan Perera as Selector on tour and Susantha Mendis as the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association Representative.

Sri Lanka will open their tour of England with a 50-over warm-up game on 25 June before taking on England in a three-match Under19 ODI series commencing 28 June and in a two-match Under19 test series starting on 8 July.

Sri Lanka U19 squad to England:

Dinura Kalupahana (Captain, Mahinda College, Galle), Pulindu Perera (Dharmaraja College, Kandy), Hiran Jayasundara (St. Joseph’s College, Colombo), Diniru Abeywickramasingha (St. Servatius’ College, Matara), Mahith Perera (S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia), Gayana Weerasinghe (Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala), Sharujan Shanmuganathan (St. Benedict’s College, Colombo), Sadew Samarasinghe (Nalanda College, Colombo), Thisara Ekanayake (St. Anthony’s College, Kandy), Yuri Koththigoda (Richmond College, Galle), Manuja Chanthuka (St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa), Vihas Thewmika (Thurstan College, Colombo), Sheshan Marasinghe (Dharmaraja College, Kandy), Dumindu Sewmina (Lumbini College, Colombo), Praveen Maneesha (Lumbini College), Nathan Caldera (S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia), Hivin Kenula (Holy Cross College, Kalutara), Geethika de Silva (St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala). 

Standby Players: Gaviru Senhas, Vimath Dinsara, Yohan Fernando, Deneth Peiris, Yenula Dewthusa, Rashmika Perera, Thulakshana Pathum, Newton Ranjithkumar.