Injured Pradeep ruled out

Sri Lanka suffered a cruel blow as seamer Nuwan Pradeep was ruled out of bowling for the remainder of the match. Pradeep suffered a hamstring injury on day one while bowling and immediately walked off the field. He did not take the field on day two where India line for a huge first innings score.

He has been ruled out for two-weeks, SLC said in a statement.

Sri Lanka decided to go with just one seamer for the second Test and if Pradeep rules out from the rest of the game, Sri Lanka will have to depend heavily on part-timer Dimuth Karunaratne.

Pradeep was Sri Lanka’s best performer in the first Test where he claimed is maiden five wicket haul (6 for 132).  Sri Lanka played with ten batsmen in the first innings in Galle when Asela Gunaratne was ruled out with a fractured thumb on day one when he attempted for a catch. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath also hurt his left middle finger and did not bowl on day four.