Spinner Maheesh Theekshana and batter Kusal Mendis have been ruled out of the T20I series against India with hamstring injuries. Also, the pace bowler Shiran Fernando has been ruled out of the T20Is due to a glute injury.

Sri Lanka cricket board announced that a couple of members from the test squad in form of Dhananjaya de Silva and Niroshan Dickwella will join the T20I squad for the remaining two T20Is in Dharamsala.

Kusal Mendis was the Player of the Match in the last T20I against Australia

Left-arm pacer Binura Fernando also recovered from Covid-19, he bowled an impressive spell of 2/12(4) in the first T20I match against Australia but soon after that, he was tested positive for Covid-19. But now he will be available for the selection in the remaining two matches on Saturday and Sunday.

Allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga was also ruled out of the T20I series as he was tested positive for Covid-19.

Kusal Mendis who was the Player of the match in the only win against Australia last week will race against time to get fit for the first test match starting on March 4 in Mohali.

Mendis lost his place in the Test squad after scoring 4 consecutive ducks in tests against South Africa and England. However, with good returns in domestic first-class cricket, he earned his place back.

The two test series will be a part of the World Test Championship as well. In this cycle of WTC, Sri Lanka played just one series as they beat West Indies in the 2-match series at home last year so they are at top of the table but they have some tough fixtures to follow.

In the remaining fixtures, they will host Pakistan and Sri Lanka while they will tour New Zealand and Bangladesh in the next season.

In the first match of the T20I series, they lost comprehensively by 62 runs. It was their 8th loss in the last 10 games in the shortest format. Sri Lanka lost by 1-4 in the 5-match series against Australia that concluded last week.

Also, read We Might See Sanju Samson Coming At No. 3 In The Second T20I – Wasim Jaffer