Sangakkara appointed SL captain for World Twenty20
Kumar Sangakkara has been named captain of Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20 tournament in England this year while Muttiah Muralitharan has been appointed Sangakkara's deputy in the provisional 25-member squad announced by the national selection committee.
Sangakkara, 31, who was vice-captain for three years and has played 80 Tests and 246 ODIs, was always the frontrunner to succeed Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped down as captain at the end of the two-Test series in Pakistan earlier this month.
The Lankan selectors are expected to take a long-term decision on the captaincy and will also be trimming the squad to a final 15 after the ongoing Inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament ends, on April 5.
Having aborted the tour to Pakistan last week following the terrorist attack on the Lankan team bus in Lahore, Sri Lanka do not have any international engagements till the World Twenty20 to be held in June. A good majority of the players, though, are expected to figure in the IPL next month.
The World Twenty20 gets underway on June 5, with Sri Lanka taking on Australia in their opening match on June 8 at Trent Bridge. West Indies are the other team in Group C.
Sri Lanka provisional World Twenty20 squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan (vice-capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushal Weeraratne, Upul Tharanga, Isuru Udana, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa, Gihan Rupasinghe, Thilina Kandamby, Malinga Bandara, Dilhara Fernando.
De Silva to head new SLC interim board
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Former Sri Lanka legspinner Somachandra De Silvawas appointed chairman of the new seven-member interim committee to run Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) by sports minister Gamini Lokuge on Thursday. De Silva, 66, who held the post of schools cricket development officer at SLC was also the cricket advisor to the country's president, Mahindra Rajapakse.
De Silva, who played 12 Tests and 41 ODIs and coached the junior national team, succeeds former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga at the position, after Ranatunga was sacked by Lokuge in December last year. The interim committee was also dissolved, marking the end of a controversial 11-month tenure for Ranatunga in the hot seat.
Ranatunga was replaced by Lokuge's private secretary, S Liyanagama, who was appointed as the competent authority to administer Sri Lanka Cricket until a suitable person was found.
However, Nishantha Ranatunga, Arjuna's brother, has been appointed as the secretary of the committee. Former fast bowler and present chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricketer's Association Pramodya Wickramasinghe, cricketer-turned-commentator Ranil Abeynayake, along with Lalith Wickremasinghe and A Gunaratne Weerasinghe will be the panel members.
Treasurer Sujeewa Rajapakse is the only person to retain his post from the committee which was previously dissolved.
Samaraweera undergoes surgery
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Thilan Samaraweera, who was shot on his leg during the armed attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, has undergone a two-hour surgery and is reported to be safe and stable.
Samaraweera, who scored successive Test double-centuries in Pakistan, was the worst affected from the terrorist attack and was admitted to a private hospital on arrival in Colombo on Wednesday. He had the bullet removed from his left thigh muscle the same day.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said the decision to remove the bullet was made to protect Samaraweera's long-term playing career.
"The bullet, which fortunately missed all nerves, was relatively close to the knee joint so the safest course of action was to remove it," Jayawardene said.
Samaraweera will spend the rest of the week recuperating in hospital and is only expected to resume physical training in two months.
After the operation he said he was relieved to be home and with his family after the ordeal. "I am feeling better and I'm very happy to be back in Colombo with my wife Erandathie and my children," Samaraweera said. "This has obviously been a very difficult time for them, but we are all relieved the operation was successful.
"The surgeon told us that it must have been a 'lucky bullet' because somehow it missed all the important bits of nerve tissue, tendons and ligaments. I certainly feel lucky to have survived and I would also like to sincerely thank the [bus] driver Mohammad Khalil for showing such courage to get the team bus away from the gunmen." Samaraweera, hoped to resume playing cricket in June.
Kumar Sangakkara and Ajantha Mendis also underwent further surgery for removal of shrapnel from their bodies. Sangakkara had shrapnel removed from his shoulder on Wednesday and was said to be out of danger. He is expected to leave hospital today.
Mendis underwent two operations on Wednesday to remove more shrapnel from his head and back. He is still detained at the hospital although he is out of danger. Mendis is expected to be out of action for at least four to six weeks according to medical authorities.
Newcomer Tharanga Paranavitana and assistant coach Paul Farbrace are the other two team members detained in hospital. But neither were operated upon. Paranavitana is expected to be discharged later on Thursday while Farbrace, who had a large piece of shrapnel removed from his right arm by surgeons in Pakistan, is under observation.
Kamran Akmal b Yasir Arafat
