Dinesh Chandimal has been selected for the Sri Lanka Test squad ahead of the two-Test series against the Proteas despite a potential ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering row against the West Indies.

The Sri Lanka skipper and coach Chandika Hathurusingha pleaded guilty to a Level 3 spirit of cricket offence during the second Test at St Lucia and were both charged by the ICC for delaying the start of play on day three for approximately two hours after the ball-tampering debacle emerged.

Sri Lanka will plead leniency for Chandimal, with the hearing set for 10 July, two days before the first Test on 12 July.

The minimum punishment for ball-tampering is a two-Test ban, which will rule the skipper out of the series.

Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal will skipper the side in the absence of Chandimal, having stepped up as skipper in his side’s final Test against the West Indies in their series-levelling win.

With spin poised to be crucial in the series, left-arm wrist-spinner Lakshan Sandakan has been added to the 17-man squad, joining veteran Rangana Herath, Akila Dananjaya and Dilruwan Perera as the slow bowlers in the side.

Opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne is expected to return after missing the West Indies tour due to a fractured hand.

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera (subject to fitness), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath (subject to fitness), Suranga Lakmal (vice-capt), Dilruwan Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Lahiru Kumara, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha