Dhananjaya de Silva ruled out of India tour

While Sri Lanka might have returned to winning ways after a sabbatical of 12 ODIs, injuries continue to topple them. The latest entry to the list has been their middle-order batsman Dhananjaya de Silva. The 26-year-old has been ruled out of the One-Day International series against India due to an injury.

Further, he may not be considered for the T20 International series. The right-handed batsman has been scheduled to return home. Earlier, he missed the first game in Dharamshala owing to the injury he suffered earlier in the Test series.

The youngster played just one Test match in the three-match series. He was included in the final game at the Feroz Shah Kotla. While he was dismissed cheaply in the first innings, he made a mark in the second innings. Slamming a stupendous 119 not out before getting retired hurt, he displayed some brilliant strokeplay. It turned out to be a match-saving innings for the Islanders.

The selectors have decided against calling in a replacement for him. The series is scheduled to be a short one and they don’t have a lot of time in hand. Also with plenty of options available in the Sri Lankan squad, the visitors would be willing to test them. The likes of Kusal Perera and Sadeera Samarawickrama may be included in the next two games.

The Sri Lankans fared well in the Test series even though they failed to win a single game. However, they followed it up with an astounding victory in the first ODI game at Dharamshala. Bundling the Indian team for just 112, the visitors raced their way to the total losing just 3 wickets and with almost 30 overs to spare.

This performance has come at the backdrop of India registering a complete whitewash against them a few months ago. With Sri Lanka already leading the series 1-nil, another victory may seal the series in their fate. The 2nd ODI is being played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.