Sri Lanka u-19 tours India from 14 Feb (24 January 1999)

24 January 1999

Sri Lanka u-19 tours India from 14 Feb

Ranjan Anandappa

The Sri Lanka under-19 cricket team will make almost a month's tour of India from February 14 to March 18 and will play three unofficial Test matches and an equal number of one-day games.

The team will arrive in Mumbai on February 14 and play their tour opener, a three-day game on February 17 at Rajkot.

The first Test takes place from February 21 to 24 at Baroda followed by the remaining two Tests at Mohali and Kanpur from March 1st and March 6th.

The three one-dayers will be played on 11th, 14th and 17th March at Gwalior, Jaipur and Delhi respectively.

The Board of Control for Cricket In Sri Lanka has formed a pool of 35 players and they have been hard at practice under the guidance of coach Carlton Bernadus.

An Indian under-19 team last toured Sri Lanka in 1997 which included players of the calibre of Ajith Agarkar, Amith Pagnis and Balraj Rao who defeated their counterparts in the three 'Test' series.

The Sri Lankan juniors have included Malinga Bandara, a left-arm spinner who played a solitary official 'Test' against New Zealand, Prasanna Jayawardena who toured England with the victorious Sri Lankan Test team as a reserve wicket keeper and many players who represented the country at the under 19 World Cup in South Africa last year.

The only surviving member of the last under 19 Indian tour is Thomian Upeka Fernando who opened the batting in 1997.

A pool of 35 players has been selected and the final squad will be selected next week.

Upeka Fernando, Malinga Bandara, Arshad Junaid, Prasanna Jayawardena, Ian Daniels, Roshan de Silva, Thilina Kandamby, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Kaushali Weeraratne, Chanaka Wijeratne, Pubudu Seneviratne, Jehan Mubarak, Malinda Gajanayake, Shashi Lafir, Duminda Perera, Suranga Gamage, Sampath Kelum, Oshadi Sumathipala, Prabath Nishantha, Y. S. S. Mendis, Chamara Silva, Lilan Aravinda, Sanjeeva Arangalla, Sanjeeva Ruwan Silva, Ranil Dammika, H. M. S. Jayawardena, Mevan Porage, Hasantha Fernando, Indika Suranga, Champika Uditha, Nalin Wijesinghe, Darshika Jayakody, Suranga Pieris, Jerome Fernando, Mahesh Perera.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)