Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday (January 14) named the 15-man squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Zimbabwe, starting next week in Harare.

Despite the series defeat against Pakistan in December 2019, the selectors chose to persist with much of the same squad, led by Dimuth Karunaratne. However, there was one notable omission in the squad which grabbed everyone’s attention.

Kusal Perera, who was the star in Sri Lanka’s Test series victory on South African soil last year, got dropped from the squad for Zimbabwe tour.

Read Also: Ravi Shastri hails Kusal Perera for his heroics at Kingsmead

Explaining the logic behind his decision to exclude Perera, Sri Lanka chief selector Ashantha de Mel told reporters: "Yes, Kusal [Perera] can make 150s, but we needed someone who can occupy the crease, which is why we chose [Lahiru] Thirimanne."

Baffled by the justification given by the chief selector, former Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jayawardena took to Twitter and wrote: “I rest my case” before using the facepalm emoji.

It is pertinent to mention here that Kusal Perera was also not part of the playing XI in two Tests against Pakistan last month following his failure against New Zealand, scoring 1, 23, 0 and 0 at home.

Sri Lanka Test Squad for Zimbabwe Tour:

Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya De Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal