Who is Milan Rathnayake? Sri Lanka’s new Test addition for England series after strong domestic performance

Sri Lanka announced their playing XI for the first Test against England a day before the action. The Asian team will lock horns with Ollie Pope and Co. in a three-match Test series starting on Wednesday (August 21) at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The action will then shift to Lord's and Kennington Oval for the second and third matches respectively.

The Lankan team, led by Dhananjaya de Silva, has a mix of veterans and youngsters. One of the notable inclusions was Milan Rathnayake, who is set to make his international debut. It was confirmed in the pre-match press conferences that the 28-year-old pacer would make his debut in the series opener.

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The Kurunegala-born cricketer, who has been making huge strides in the domestic circuit, has finally been rewarded with a maiden national call-up. He moved to Australia to pursue his career and returned to Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic. He continued his impressive performance, especially in the 2023 domestic season, averaging 29 with an innings best of 4-50.

Rathnayake finally gets the door opened after consistent domestic performances 

Rathnayake was previously selected in Sri Lanka's squad for their one-off Test against Afghanistan but did not get a chance to feature in the playing XI. He was also named in the squad for the New Zealand and Ireland series last year but had to warm the bench throughout. The right-arm speedster has played 40 first-class matches and has taken 81 wickets.  

With his consistent performances, Rathnayake was knocking on the doors of the national team selectors and finally, it got opened in a crucial series. He will strengthen their pace attack alongside Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando. With only Prabath Jayasuriya included as the sole spinner, Sri Lanka is going with an all-pace attack.

Notably, Sri Lanka has not secured a Test victory over England since 2014. They also lost the warm-up match by seven wickets against England Lions last week. Rathnayake took 1-65 in the first innings and 1-24 in the second. 

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