Lasith Malinga will lead the 15-member Sri Lankan squad in the three-match T20 series against New Zealand starting on September. The side will feature at least nine changes from the squad which faced South Africa earlier this year with wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella named as Malinga’s deputy.
The Sri Lankan paceman retired from ODI cricket last month but will continue to ply his trade in T20 cricket, hoping to continue at least till the T20 World Cup in 2020. The series against New Zealand will seen the return of Danushka Gunathilaka, who last played an international game for Sri Lanka in January 2019.
Kusal Perera, who picked up a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the T20I series against South Africa, is part of the squad along with Lahiru Kumara while Thisara Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva and Suranga Lakmal are among the nine players excluded from the previous T20I squad.
