In a major blow to Sri Lanka, Pathum Nissanka has been ruled out of the second Test against India owing to a back injury. The second Test, which will be a pink-ball game, is scheduled to kick off from March 12 at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Not just this, in a double whammy Dushmantha Chameera will miss the second Test as well as he is yet recover from an ankle injury.
After getting beaten in the first Test by an innings and 222 runs, it will be an uphill task for Sri Lanka to salvage pride in the second Test as the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side is yet to win a Test series in India as of date.
On the eve of the pink-ball Test skipper Karunaratne said that Chameera's workload was being managed till the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled for October this year, and that the quick would be available only for limited-overs games in the interim period after his recovery.
Chameera, who was roped in for a whopping Rs 2 crore by Lucknow Super Giants in the Mega Auction for the upcoming IPL season, is also expected to be at the glitzy league.
"The [Sri Lanka team] medical panel has told us that we have to manage his injury till the T20 World Cup, and that he should be used (only) for white-ball cricket," Karunaratne said.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Nissanka played a solid knock in the first innings against India in the Mohali Test. The right-handed batsman scored 61 runs (not out) off 133 deliveries and he became his side’s highest-scorer in the first innings. His innings was comprised of 11 boundaries. Eventually, he remained not out. Although, in the second innings, Nissanka could not do much as he was sent back to the dressing room after scoring just 6 runs off 19 balls. Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up the crucial wicket of Nissanka in the second innings.
Nissanka's absence would hurt Sri Lanka, as he was one of the few positives for them in what was a heavy defeat, having top-scored for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 61 in the first innings. Though still early in his career, he's also one of the few Sri Lanka batters with an average north of 40.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharath, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar
Sri Lanka's squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva (vice-captain), Kusal Mendis – subject to fitness, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Niroshan Dickwella, Chamika Karunaratne, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrema, Lasith Embuldeniya.
