Testing times for u-19 hopefuls

Though the Lankans are fielding a depleted side for the tour opener, the encounter is of prime importance for the Indian lads as it would form the basis of selecting the Indian u-19 team for the one-off `Test’ to be held at the Wankhede Stadium from February 27.

Lankan coach Carlton Bernadus informed today that they had decided to leave out first-choice wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardena, who was a member of the Lankan seniors team to England last summer, Test player Malinga Banadara, Prabath Nishantha, Sujeewa de Silva and Ian Daniels. The Lankan outfit still comprises six players who took part in the last under-19World Cup in South Africa, including their skipper and opening batsman Upeka Fernando who is also among the 30 probables for the May 14-June 20 World Cup in England.

The Teams

Board President’s XI (from): Asif Murtaza (Rlys, captain), Ashu Jain (Rajasthan), Dheeraj Jadhav (Maharashtra), Vineet Saxena (UP), Pushkaraj Jadhav (Mumbai), Mrutunjay Tripathi (UP), H Bangari (WK, Orissa), Swapnil Hazare (Mumbai), Sourashish Lahiri (Bengal), C H Shyam (Kerala), Arjun Yadav (Hyderabad), Yuvraj Singh (Punjab), Rajat Bhatia (TN) & Amit Suman (Delhi).Sri Lanka: Upeka Fernando (captain), Jerome Fernando, Satpath Kalum, Ranil Dhamika, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Malintha Gajanayake, Thilina Kandambi, Duminda Perera, Nalin Wijesinghe and Pubudu Senevirathne.

Umpires: SN Bandekar & VM Gupte.

The Lanka U-19 Schedule

Feb 20: Arrival in Mumbai

Feb 22-24: vs Board President’s (u-19) XI at Brabourne Stadium

Feb 27-Mar 2: One-off `Test’ at Wankhede Stadium

Mar 5 & 7: 1st & 2nd one-dayer at Gwalior

Mar 9 &11: 3rd & 4th one-dayer at Delhi

Mar 12: Departure to Sri Lanka.