Delhi: Sri Lanka has announced its 15-member team for the Asian Games 2026. Sahan Arachchige will lead the team. Sri Lanka has rested most of its key T20 International players for this tournament and in their place, players who have performed well in domestic cricket have been given a chance.

The most talked about thing in the team is the return of Ashen Bandara and Niroshan Dickwella. Bandara last played an international match in 2023, while Dickwella played his last T20 International match in 2021.

Four players became part of T20 team for the first time

For the first time, Sri Lanka has included four players in the T20 International team for the Asian Games. Sinete Jayawardena, Sohan de Livera, Vanuza Sahan and Garuka Sanket have been included in the 15-member team.

Among them, Sinnett Jayawardena and Sohan de Livera had performed brilliantly with the bat in the recent domestic T20 tournament. Jayawardena scored 372 runs in the Major Clubs T20 tournament and his strike rate was 167.56. Whereas, De Livera scored 307 runs and batted at a strike rate of 156.63.

Jayawardena played an important role in his team winning the title by playing a stormy innings of 82 runs in just 32 balls in the final of the tournament.

Bandara and Dickwella return after a long time

Considering the experience, Sri Lanka has also included Ashen Bandara and Niroshan Dickwella in the team. However, the recent Lanka Premier League performance of both was not very special.

Bandara played only three matches for Colombo Caps in LPL 2026 and scored 28 runs. Whereas, Dickwella scored 110 runs for Dambulla Sixers and his strike rate was 142.85. Despite this, the team management has given importance to his experience in big tournaments.

Sri Lanka straight into quarter finals

Sri Lanka has got a direct place in the quarter finals in the men's cricket competition of the Asian Games. The team will play its first match on September 29 in Nisshin.

Sahan Arachige has already captained Sri Lanka in the previous Asian Games. In that tournament, Sri Lanka had lost to Afghanistan in its only match and the team was out of the competition.

Sri Lanka's squad for Asian Games 2026

Sahan Arachige (captain), Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Lasith Kruspulle, Sinnet Jayawardena, Nuwanidu Fernando, Sohan de Livera, Ashen Bandara, Chamika Karunaratne, Tharindu Ratnayake, Vanuza Sahan, Vijayakanth Wiyaskanth, Dushan Hemantha, Nuwan Thushara, Binura Fernando, Garuka Sanket.