Two stand-in coaches have been appointed for Sri Lanka’s T20I tour of Australia.

Former Test player Rumesh Ratnayake (58) was named interim coach, but will not travel with the team to Australia because he is in self-isolation after contracting Covid-19.

However, it said he was expected to join the national team in time for the first T20I at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 11 February.

Another former pace bowler, 38-year-old Lasith Malinga, was named “bowling strategy coach” for the five-match series.

The series has Danushka Gunathilaka returning to international cricket after a ban for breaching Covid rules during a tour of England last June.

The all-rounder and two others were sanctioned after they admitted breaching a bio-secure bubble in Durham during a tour of England last June.

Gunathilaka (30) had his ban lifted following an appeal and the payment of a $50,000 fine, and is among the 20-man squad named for Australia under Dasun Shanaka.

The first two T20I will be in Sydney on 11 and 13 February, followed by one match in Canberra and two in Melbourne.

© Agence France-Presse