Sri Lanka Squad for Asia Cup 2022 announced: Dasun Shanaka will lead the team

This month, the 20-member Sri Lankan team will compete in the Asia Cup Twenty20 competition in the United Arab Emirates. Dasun Shanaka will serve as captain of the team. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka but was moved to the United Arab Emirates due to political unrest and economic troubles in the island nation.

Following its greatest financial crisis in history, Sri Lanka has experienced months of food and gasoline shortages, blackouts, and escalating inflation. On August 27, Sri Lanka will face Afghanistan in its inaugural game in Dubai. On September 11, the championship will also take place in Dubai.

Sri Lanka facing issues

SLC hasn’t made the Sri Lankan government happy. Political parties loudly blamed SLC for ceding the hosting rights to the Asia Cup. They believed the SLC had not done enough to keep the competition. An opposition MP reportedly questioned the choice to move the Asia Cup 2022 from Sri Lanka, according to a Sunday Times Sri Lanka story. Roshan Ranasinghe, the minister of sports, and Arjuna Ranatunga, the head of the National Sports Council, supported the idea.

Read more: All about Asia cup 2022

They said that SLC did not “lobby sufficiently” to keep the competition in the island country. Later, SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva attacked the inquiries, calling them a reckless accusations intended to harm SLC’s reputation.

Sri Lanka Squad released after a long delay

Sri Lanka has officially released its 2022 Asia Cup squad after a 12-day delay. While both Bhanuka Rajapaksha and Dinesh Chandimal have found positions, Dashun Shanaka will take the lead. The 20-man roster includes Baby Malinga Matheesha Pathirana as well.

Sri Lanka’s political stalemate was to blame for the delay. Despite the fact that SLC submitted the squad for approval to the Sri Lankan sports ministry, the government disapproved it on the grounds that it arrived too late. But now the wait is gone.