Sri Lanka’s selectors have pressed the refresh button again. Their 15-strong squad for next month’s three-match T20 series in Zimbabwe features 20-year-old Vishen Halambage on his first senior tour, recalls for Nuwanidu Fernando and Kamil Mishara, and a fit-again Dushmantha Chameera. Out go Avishka Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, seamer Eshan Malinga and, through injury, captain-in-waiting Wanindu Hasaranga.
That is the headline-stuff. The thinking underneath is equally plain: more intent with the bat, sharper fielding, and greater depth at the death with the ball. Chief selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe did not offer sweeping statements, but sources close to the panel say the brief is “pick the players who’ll still be around in 2027”.
Three new-look batting options
Halambage, Mishara and Nuwanidu were the three stand-out run-scorers at this month’s SLC T20 League, a low-key but revealing, three-team event in Colombo. Halambage and Mishara each cleared the ropes six times, joint-most alongside Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. Mishara’s strike-rate – 172.72 – was only shaded by Nissanka’s, while Halambage came in at a handy 140. Nuwanidu, batting mostly at No. 4, scored a tournament-best 155 runs at 77.50 and, crucially, finished two chases not out. His strike-rate of 124 was lower, but the selectors appear convinced those calm finishes translate to international cricket.
A squeeze at the top
Those numbers left little room for Niroshan Dickwella, even after 134 festival-style runs at 161.44. At 32, and with Nissanka and Kusal Mendis inked in as openers, Dickwella has hit the familiar, brutal ceiling of Sri Lanka’s succession planning. One selector put it bluntly late last week: “Niroshan still plays the same tempo, the younger boys are matching it and fielding better.”
Replacing Hasaranga – as far as anyone can
Hasaranga’s ankle strain rules him out until, at best, the Asia Cup. Dushan Hemantha, the leg-spinning all-rounder, has been preferred to Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Vandersay. Viyaskanth’s five wickets in the domestic league topped Hemantha’s four, but Hemantha threw in 92 rapid runs and a string of diving stops at backward point. The panel value that rounded package, especially when defending totals on flat Zimbabwean pitches.
The pace log-jam
Eshan Malinga’s story is different. A fine 2025 IPL earned him a Bangladesh tour cap, yet he struggled for rhythm in the monsoon ODIs that followed. Chameera, meanwhile, has finally strung together four pain-free weeks after ankle surgery and is straight back in. Together with Dilshan Madushanka and Matheesha Pathirana, Sri Lanka can now deploy genuine pace at all three phases – powerplay, middle and death – something they lacked on the last tour.
Possible batting order
The coaching staff have sketched a tentative top seven: Nissanka, Mendis, Asalanka, Nuwanidu, Rajapaksa, Angelo Mathews, and the floating all-rounder role for either Hemantha or Hemanth’s left-handed namesake Sahan Arachchige. Halambage and Mishara are both viewed as flexible options – able to pinch-hit in the powerplay or finish an innings – but the word from training is they will be eased in.
One eye on 2026
Sri Lanka have 11 scheduled T20Is before next year’s World Cup in India. “We can’t keep waiting,” batting coach Naveed Nawaz told local radio on Wednesday. “If someone shows they can strike at 150 and field like a 21-year-old should, then he plays – simple.”
For all the fresh faces, experience still matters. Mathews, at 38, keeps his place as middle-order glue and back-up seamer, while Mendis inherits the leadership duties in Hasaranga’s absence. “I’ve known most of these kids since Under-19s,” Mendis said during a quiet moment at Katunayake Airport. “They hit harder than we did at that age – my job is mostly keeping them calm.”
Tour itinerary
The squad departs on 5 September, plays a two-day warm-up in Harare, then T20Is on 10, 12 and 14 September. All three matches start at 1:30 pm local time.
Squad in full
Kusal Mendis (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Nuwanidu Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Angelo Mathews, Vishen Halambage, Kamil Mishara (wk), Dushan Hemantha, Sahan Arachchige, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Maheesh Theekshana.
Plenty of moving parts, then, but an unmistakable theme: Sri Lanka want bold, boundary-hitting cricket, and they want it now.
