The Sri Lanka national cricket team entered into a bubble today to camp and prepare for the upcoming tour of Oman and the Twenty-20 cricket World Cup, Coach Mickey Arthur announced.
He said the Sri Lankan players and staff have already spent 228 days in the last 10- months in a bubble.
Stating that he was proud of the attitude and commitment of everyone, Arthur said they are determined to get better everyday and bring success back to the country.
Meanwhile, five more cricketers have been added to Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup squad by national selectors, increasing the total strength of the team from 18 to 23.
Following all-rounder Lahiru Madushanka being ruled out with a fractured collar bone, which he suffered during the third T20I against South Africa last week, the original 19-member squad for the world cup was reduced to 18.
Kusal Perera, who is struggling to get fit after pulling a hamstring during the same match, has been retained, while five players; namely, Lakshan Sandakan, Ramesh Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Minod Bhanuka and Ashen Bandara have also been included to the squad.
The 23-member Sri Lanka national squad and its support staff underwent their first PCR test on Sunday with all test results returning negative. However, the results of the second PCR test which was conducted yesterday is yet to arrive.
The squad and staff have moved into Cinnamon Grand Hotel today to commence their period of quarantine before commencing practices from 24th September.
Sri Lanka will not name their final 15 for the T20 World Cup until 10th October, which is the deadline set by the ICC for all teams to finalise their playing teams.
The Sri Lanka squad and support staff are due to leave for Oman on 2nd October where they will play two warm-up matches against the Oman national side on the 7th and 9th of October. They will follow up by playing a further two ICC-organised warm-up games on the 12th and 14th of October.
Sri Lanka will thereafter commence their T20 World Cup campaign on 18th October against Namibia. (NewsWire)