Sri Lanka who lost the first cricket Test to England at Galle by 211 runs suffered a double blow ahead of the second Test commencing at Pallekele International Stadium on Wednesday when captain Dinesh Chandimal was ruled out for the rest of the series and to compound matters spinner Akila Dananjaya has been reported with a suspected bowling action.
Chandimal who suffered a grade one tear in the groin while fielding during the first Test at Galle has been ruled out for two weeks which affectively reduces his chances of playing in the third Test starting at the SSC on November 23 as well.
Sri Lanka will be captained by senior fast bowler Suranga Lakmal for the second and third Tests.
Lakmal captained Sri Lanka in the third Test against West Indies at Barbados and also in the two Tests against South Africa at home when Chandimal was serving a ban.
Remarkably Sri Lanka won all three Tests under his leadership – the win over West Indies enabling them to share the three-Test series one-all and the wins over South Africa giving them a clean 2-0 sweep of the series.
Sri Lanka find themselves 0-1 down in the three Test series against England and Lakmal will need to draw up all his resources to uplift the team if they are to stop England from taking a winning 2-0 lead at Pallekele.
Uncapped Charith Asalanka has been called up to the squad as Chandimal’s replacement. Asalanka scored a forceful half-century (68) against England in the second warm-up game played at the CCC.
