Sri Lanka got got dealt a heavy blow even before the start of the India vs Sri Lanka series as star pacer Dushmantha Chameera had to be ruled out of the entire white-ball series. Three days before the T20I series in Pallekele, on Wednesday night, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that Chameera is still recovering from bronchitis and respiratory infection, which was the reason of him being out of action since the later half of Lanka Premier League.
“Dushmantha Chameera is still recovering from a bronchitis and respiratory infection he contracted, and hence will not be part of the T20I series,” Sri Lanka Cricket tweeted.
Asitha Fernando was brought in as Chameero’s replacement in the Sri Lankan squad. It was also “confirmed” by Sri Lanka’s chief selector Upul Tharanga, that Chameera will now not be a part of the six-match series as it was.
“Yesterday we got the reports, and it can be confirmed that he will miss the T20Is and ODIs against India,” Tharanga said.
26-year-old Asitha, was the top pick of bowlers in the Lanka Premier League final, as he grabbed three wickets while Jaffana Kings beat Galle Marvels.
32-year-old Chameera, who made his debut in international career for Sri Lanka in 2015 and he bowled at a good pace. But from then, he has been suffering from injuries throughout his career.
Chameera did not play the last few matches for Kandy Falcons in the Lanka Premier League, which was recently concluded. Along with the big events, Chameera missed the Asia Cup in 2022 and the T20 World Cup as well in Australia due to a calf injury.
He also missed the 2023 Asia Cup because of shoulder injury and was also initially not picked for the last year’s the ODI World Cup squad. He was named as a replacement as his fellow pacer Matheesha Pathirana got injured.
