There were a lot of reports suggesting the wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera, who led the Sri Lankan team on their recent white-ball tour of England, was most likely to be replaced by Dasun Shanaka as captain for the upcoming home series against India.
But, according to a Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) official’s statement, Perera might not even play the limited-overs fixtures against India due to an injury he sustained during the England ODI series. Perera also did not practice with the team on Wednesday.
“Medical staff have given an injection to him so he didn’t practice with the team yesterday and today. We have to take a call tomorrow, but it’s not looking good,” an SLC official told NewsWire.
The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman reportedly hurt his shoulder during the England tour but he decided to play through it as he was the captain and one of the most experienced players on tour.
If Perera does not manage to regain full fitness in time, then Sri Lanka’s batting will suffer a major blow. They are already without Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, and Niroshan Dickwella – all suspended due to them breaching the bio-bubble in England.
The SLC is yet to name the squad for the India series and confirm Shanaka as the captain, but it is likely that Perera will be sacked as captain irrespective of his fitness.
The island nation will be hosting India for a three-match ODI series followed by an as many match T20I series. The ODI series was originally slated to begin from 13 July but the COVID-19 outbreak in the home team’s camp saw the series being rescheduled to 18 July.
(With NewsWire Inputs)
