Sri Lanka defended the choice of all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga in the team for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh on Thursday despite his ICC suspension. Hasaranga can serve his ban during the Bangladesh Tests and save himself for Sri Lanka’s next international match, the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in June.
Sri Lanka defends Hasaranga’s Test selection despite ban
The Sri Lanka T20 captain would miss the first four World Cup matches if not selected for Bangladesh Tests. In Monday’s third one-day international against Bangladesh, umpires chastised Hasaranga for stealing a cap and mocking him. That day, the 26-year-old joined Sri Lanka’s 17-man Test squad after reportedly retiring from Test cricket. Hasaranga received three demerit points from the International Cricket Council on Tuesday for “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”.
This gave him eight demerit points in 24 months, which ICC regulations converted into four suspension points. The four suspension points ban two Tests, four ODIs, or four T20Is, whichever comes first. On Thursday, Sri Lanka’s media manager, Mahinda Halangola, denied that Hasaranga’s inclusion in the Test squad was aimed to assist him serve his ban before the World Cup. To extend his limited-overs career, Hasaranga retired from Test cricket in August. Halangola stated Hasaranga changed his mind and wrote to the cricket board that he “wants to play” Test cricket.
“The selectors thought about it and decided to select him for the Test series” , he said. Hasaranga was banished for two Twenty20 internationals in February for arguing with an umpire during the third T20 against Afghanistan. Due to his Test suspension, Hasaranga will start for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Sri Lanka’s two-Test series against Bangladesh begins Friday in Sylhet.
