The 31-year-old Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Isuru Udana is most likely to miss the third and final T20I of the ongoing India tour due to the injury.
Sri Lanka are currently touring India for the three-match T20I series. While the first game (5th January) had no result due to the rain interruption at Guwahati, the hosts India won the second T20I of this series at Indore on last Tuesday (7th January) night.
Isuru Udana featured in both those T20Is. While the first match had no play, Udana has the perfect chance to bowl in the Indore T20I. After losing the toss in the second game of this series, Sri Lanka managed to score 142/9 (20 overs) in the first innings. Udana came to bat in this match at the no.9 position and scored only one run before the Indian pacer Shardul Thakur dismissed him.
Just before the Sri Lankan team came to bowl in that Indore T20I, Isuru Udana was injured. Ultimately he didn’t deliver a ball in that match, and the Lions badly missed him. Even, the Sri Lankan captain Lasith Malinga has pointed out in the post-match presentation ceremony that their experienced pacer Isuru Udana’s unavailability hurt them hugely in that game.
Malinga told, ”We were around 25-30 runs short. We tried to bowl consistent lines and lengths. The bowlers did well to drag the match till the 18th over. He’s (Isuru Udana) our main bowler and is very experienced in this format. He got injured just before we went out to bowl. He’s recovering now. We need to give opportunities to the youngsters.”
Isuru Udana was in a hell of a lot of pain in the dressing room – Mickey Arthur
Later, the Sri Lankan head coach Mickey Arthur has clarified the present situation of Isuru Udana. Arthur hopes to get Udana’s service in the home limited-overs series against West Indies in the next month.
The Sri Lankan coach claimed, “Look, I’m no doctor. He was in a hell of a lot of pain in the dressing room. What the diagnosis is I honestly don’t know. I just hope we can get him back for the West Indies series.
“We’ve got so much cricket… the middle of February. I even think that could be a push. So, yeah, I just hope the best for him. It’s something in the back.”
The ongoing Sri Lanka tour of India will end with the third and final T20I of this series on 10th January at Pune. After this series, Sri Lanka will tour to Zimbabwe for the two-match Test series. In mid-February, West Indies will play three ODIs and two T20Is against the hosts Sri Lanka.