COLOMBO: Injured Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis has been left out of the Twenty20 and one-day squads to play New Zealand.

Mendis has not fully recovered from a side strain picked up during Sri Lanka’s opening world T20 match against Zimbabwe on Sept. 18, although he missed only one game and played in the rest of the tournament to finish as the top wicket-taker with 15 wickets at an average of 9.80.

“Ajantha played these matches taking painkillers, he has still not recovered 100 percent from the injury. He is still under treatment,” Sri Lanka team manager Charith Senanayake said yesterday.

Also rested from the T20 side were batsman Mahela Jayawardene, who gave up the captaincy after the world final, and Lasith Malinga.

T20 squad:         Angelo Mathews (captain), Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilshan Munaweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Jeevan Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Akila Dananjaya, Sachithra Senanayake, Upul Tharanga.

Squad for first three ODIs: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Angelo Mathews, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga, Upul Tharanga, Rangana Herath, Akila Dananjaya, Tharindu Kaushal.

REUTERS