Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka has been handed the responsibility of continuing as the captain of the national team against England in the 50-over format; However, he has admitted that this is not the ideal time to organize this series, as many players will not be able to play the matches due to T20 WC obligations.
Sri Lanka has finally revealed its squad for the three-match ODI series against England, starting today, January 22. He announced the 17-member squad just a day before the start of the series and left out many big names from the series.
Sri Lanka is the official co-host of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. SLC is hosting a major ICC event after a long time and has hopes of making it to the latter stages of the competition. They have failed to produce solid performances in multi-team tournaments in recent years.
Charith Asalanka will remain Sri Lanka’s ODI captain
As Sri Lanka announced the ODI squad for the upcoming series against England, they have named former captain Charith Asalanka as the captain. The left-handed batsman will continue his leadership role in the longer white-ball formats after being dropped from the T20Is.
Charith Asalanka is one of the important batsmen in the Lankan lineup and is also a part of the T20 World Cup squad, but Dasun Shanaka was made the captain. SLC chairman of selectors, Upul Tharanga, had claimed that Asalanka was relieved of the burden of leadership to ensure a smooth return to his batting form.
However, these incidents were also marked as a result of Asalanka ignoring the ultimatum issued to the Lankan cricketers when many requested to return to the country midway through the Pakistan tour, where they felt there was a threat to their lives. SLC then threatened the players with consequences if they returned, despite which Asalanka returned to the country citing health problems.
“Not suitable for this time,” Charith Asalanka admits wrong schedule of SL vs ENG ODI series
The Sri Lankan captain, who has retained his role as well as a place in the team, faced the press ahead of the start of the ODI series between England and Sri Lanka and acknowledged the shortcomings of the series schedule.
While every team is focusing on playing T20 cricket ahead of the World Cup, the ODI series for co-hosts Sri Lanka seems to be a strange decision. The matches are scheduled for 22, 24 and 26 January and will be played in Colombo.
Even the Lankan captain admitted that it was not the ideal time for matches in the 50-over format; Charith Asalanka commented, “Not suitable for the moment, because it is ODI cricket, not T20 cricket. There are not a lot of T20 players in the team; I think it is, for the most part, preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup.”
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka admits that the timing of the ODI series against England is not ideal, with the T20 World Cup less than three weeks away. pic.twitter.com/FtaTUTF5aw
– CricWire (@CricWireLK) 22 January 2026
Sri Lanka’s frontline pacers ruled out of ODI series against England
The Lankan team has not made many changes in the ODI team. 14 players have retained their places from the previous series against Pakistan. However, there have been some new additions, including veterans Dhananjay de Silva with Dunit Velazquez and Milan Rathnayake.
The Lankans’ spin department looks as reliable as ever; However, the Pace deck looks relatively flaky. With the team missing several frontline pacers like Dushmantha Chameera, Mathisha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka and Nuwan Thusara, they may have to struggle in the powerplay and death overs.
Also read: Sanju Samson at risk of bench warming during T20 World Cup 2026 as Ishan Kishan factor emerges
