The islanders, led by Charith Asalanka, have quietly built a formidable unit combining top-order solidity with middle-order power and a spin attack tailor-made for UAE conditions.
Along with Hasaranga, Sri Lanka have Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana among spin bowling options.
Sri Lanka will look to build on their perfect start in Asia Cup when they take on a struggling Hong Kong in Dubai on Monday.
Afghanistan will need to play with more flair and freedom in their must-win Asia Cup group match against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
India and Bangladesh have two points each with Suryakumar Yadav's men leading the standings owing to a superior net run rate. Sri Lanka and Pakistan occupy the third and fourth spots respectively.
Shanaka sustained a right thigh muscle injury in Tuesday's six-wicket loss to Pakistan.
Pakistan survived a wonderful spell from an enraged spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in an intense Super 4 match to stay alive in the Asia Cup, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
In all the three group matches, Sri Lanka thrived while chasing and one would expect the Islanders to continue the same trend if they win the toss on Saturday.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
Sri Lanka have called up leg-spinning all-rounder Dushan Hemantha, while Chamika Karunaratne will be the travelling reserve player.
Karunaratne at first didn't notice a young lady holding a placard saying, 'Chamika, will you marry me?'
Sri Lanka's Chamika Karunaratne picked up three wickets, including the crucial one of Glenn Maxwell, to trigger an Australian collapse as the hosts won the rain-hit second one-day international by 26 runs.
Sri Lanka Cricket picked a 20-member squad for the white-ball series starting on January 3.
Sri Lanka were dealt another injury blow at the World Cup with seamer Lahiru Kumara ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a left thigh muscle injury.
Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews replaced injured pacer Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka's World Cup squad.
Their house in complete disarray after consecutive defeats, Australia will look to wake up from the slumber and return to winning ways against an equally stuttering Sri Lanka in the World Cup match in Lucknow on Monday.
The third and the final T20 game between India and Sri Lanka will be played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo starting 1900 IST today.
Sri Lanka, who won the T20 World Cup in 2014, have two warm-up games in Melbourne before they begin their World Cup campaign with a qualifying match against Namibia on October 16.
Henry Shipley claimed a career-best 5/31 to dismantle Sri Lanka as New Zealand steamrolled the tourists by 198 runs in the first ODI.
After playing a major role in Chennai Super Kings' IPL triumph, young pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana will be hoping to make the same impact for Sri Lanka in the ODI series against Afghanistan.
Images from the ICC Men's ODI World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Australia at the Ekana Sports City Stadium in Lucknow.
Images from the third Twenty20 International between India and Sri Lanka, in Dharamsala, on Sunday.
The 18-member Sri Lanka Test squad, led by star batter Dimuth Karunaratne and featuring veterans such as Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal, checked in Dharamsala on Friday.
New Zealand ended Sri Lanka's chances of directly qualifying for this year's World Cup in India.
Images from the first T20 International between India and Sri Lanka, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Kohli smashed an unbeaten 166, hitting 13 fours and eight sixes in his 110-ball display. It was the former captain's 46th ODI century and he is now only three short of Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record of most ODI hundreds.
Hardik Pandya will be expected to begin his full-time T20 captaincy tenure on a bold note as the Indian team prepares to start its life beyond Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
India's young batsmen produced a brilliant collective effort to pile up a mammoth first innings score of 503 for seven against Sri Lanka in the opening 'Youth Test' match in Dambulla, on Wednesday.
SL executed their plans well against the Indian batters, who are not the cleverest performers on rank turners, while not many are though.
Binura Fernando and Kasun Rajitha, who were named in the original squad, will not tour owing to injuries sustained during the SLC Invitational T20 League 2022.
Spinners Dunith Wellalage (3-42) and Maheesh Theekshana (2-26) kept Sri Lanka in the hunt but Dasun Shanaka's side were left to rue a limp performance with the bat.
KKR had bought Shreyas Iyer for Rs 15.25 crore
It will take a special effort from the struggling Sri Lankan side to pull one back against the rampaging visitors.
India's previous bilateral ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka came way back in 1997.
The Netherlands will have a spring in their stride when they take on a struggling Sri Lanka on Saturday.
The Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management has an opportunity to decide who among KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be India's long-term first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in ODIs
Having lost the third ODI to Sri Lanka, Shikhar Dhawan's men will be looking to go one better against Sri Lanka with a T20 team that is ahead in almost all departments.
England seamers Sam Curran and David Willey shared nine wickets to set up a crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday as the hosts chased down 241 with seven overs to spare to go 2-0 up in the three-match one-day international series.
Asalanka came in and smashed 10 fours and a six for his maiden ODI century
Mendis hit six fours and three sixes in his 29-ball knock and with some lusty hitting from Wanindu Hasaranga, who made an unbeaten 37 off 14 deliveries, helped Sri Lanka to a total of 188 for five from their 20 overs.
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