Atapattu back for ODIs

Former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu will return to the side for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, having recovered from the injury that forced him out of the tour of England.

The selectors have emphasised the importance of his return at this stage for their plans for the World Cup, saying that it is crucial that he is given enough match practice to be back at his very best in the West Indies next year.

The 35-year old will not regain either the opening role or the captaincy however, with the combination of Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga having great success in his absence and the selectors being not confident enough in Atapattu’s fitness and form to make changes to the captaincy/vice-captaincy combination of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

The return of the veteran of 253 ODIs, in which he has scored in excess of 8200 runs, comes as an extremely welcome one to a side which is already riding high on confidence on ODIs at the moment after a 5-0 thrashing of England.

Sri Lanka Squad
Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Marvan Atapattu, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Ruchira Perera, Prasanna Jayawardene