SL vs AUS: Three Sri Lanka players test positive for COVID-19 ahead of the second Test against Australia

Team Sri Lanka has faced another jolt after three of its prominent players have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the second Test match between the home team and visitors Australia. The three players include their star batter Dhananjaya de Silva, pacer Asitha Fernando and leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay.

The second Test match will start on July 8 (Friday) at the Galle International Stadium, Galle. To note, the visitors Australia won the first Test match comfortably after thrashing Sri Lanka by ten wickets and went 1-0 up in the two-match Test series.

 Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage are chief contenders to make their debut

With De Silva, Fernando, and Vandersay out of the Test match, Sri Lanka is likely to hand debut caps to the spin pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage. Both young spinners had shown some excellent bowling skills during the ODI series against the Men in Yellow recently.

In a good piece of news for Sri Lanka, former skipper and veteran batter Angelo Mathews is fit and is expected to feature in Sri Lanka’s playing XI. It must be noted that Mathews withdrew from the third day of the first Test due to Covid-19. Under series protocols, any player returning a positive test must isolate for five days.

The Australia tour of Sri Lanka is about to end and the cricket fans have witnessed some excellent cricket between the two nations. While the visitors won the T20I series easily, Sri Lanka made a resounding comeback during the ODI series and eventually won it.

Coming to Test matches, Australia gave a beating to the home team after winning the first Test by ten wickets and they will be eyeing a series victory over Sri Lanka after winning the second Test match. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will want to put on a much better show as compared to the first Test and try to level the series by winning the second encounter.