Rangana Herath ruled out of third Test against India

The misery for the Sri Lankan side do not seem to have an end. Days before the commencement of the third and final Test of their home series against India, they have received a massive blow. Veteran campaigner Rangana Herath has been ruled out of the third Test with a back injury. The injury blow comes as a big jolt to the hosts who have had dwindling fortunes this season.

Herath has been an integral part of the Test side and is the most successful bowler for them in their side at the moment. Rangana Herath was added to the long list of casualties that the Sri Lankan team has had during the course of the ongoing series against India. Sri Lankan team were jolted with the exclusion of their skipper Dinesh Chandimal in the first Test.

It was Herath who has named as the stand in skipper then. Soon, two of their premier pace bowlers – Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep – had to bow out of the series due to back injury and hamstring injury respectively. Also, during the first Test, all-rounder Asela Gunaratne was injured and subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the series with a thumb injury.

Not taking a risk

As per the recent reports in Cricbuzz, a source close to the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed the news of Rangana Herath being ruled out of the final Test. He noted that Herath had been complaining of back pain for quite some time. The management is in no mood to take a risk in such a precarious scenario.

“Rangana complained about back pain and we don’t want to take any chances with him. He is our leading bowler and we have a hectic season ahead. Hence we thought not to risk him for the final game with the series already lost,” quoted the source.

Talking about the series, Sri Lanka are trailing 2-0 in the three match series. They will take the field on August 12 for the final Test in a bid to avoid a whitewash defeat.