Advertisment

IND vs SL: Massive blow for Sri Lanka ahead of the Day-Night Test in Bengaluru

Pathum Nissanka has agravated his old back injury. Reports say the bartsman may miss the second Test against India at Bengaluru.

author-image
Jennifer
New Update
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (Image Credit:Twitter)

The Sri Lankan team is in India, playing a two match Test series. The visitors had a tough time in the first test as they suffered a heavy defeat by an innings and 222 runs. The action for the series now moves forward to Bengaluru for the second and last Test of the series. The Test at Bengaluru will be a day-night affair and will be played with a pink ball.

Advertisment

After the batting woes they suffered in the first test, Sri Lanka will be looking to perform better and compete with more intensity in the second test. However, in a massive setback Pathum Nissanka is likely to miss the second Test.

While most of the Sri Lankan batting was unable to build up any resistance against the Indian bowling in the first Test, Nissanka was one of the few Sri Lankan batters showing resilience. Nissanka batted with determination in the first innings, scoring 61 runs off 133 deliveries, while his partners left him alone at the crease.

The Sri Lankan team was bundled out for 174 runs in 65 overs in the innings, 400 runs behind India’s total. Nissanka scored about 35 per cent of his team’s total while playing out 34 per cent of the total deliveries played by the team. This proves the importance of Nissanka in the batting order.

Advertisment

With the Second Test of the series is due to begin on the 12th of March, a Sri Lankan Cricket official said that the batter's old back injury has got him down again. To quote the official from his statement to CricWire – “Pathum has some back pain from his previous injuries, we will monitor his situation but he is unlikely to play”.

 Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis are the two players in the squad who can replace Nissanka in the team. While Dinesh Chandimal has not scored a half-century in the last nine test innings, Kusal Mendis has not participated in the longest format since January 2021.

Sri Lanka might opt to play Dinesh Chandimal in the last test of the series, given the experience he will bring into the equation. Meanwhile, Nissanka is not the only concern for the visitors as pacer Dushmantha Chameera will also miss the second Test due to workload management.

Cricket News India Sri Lanka India vs Sri Lanka 2023