The Indian captain won the toss and has elected to bat first at the 3rd test match against Sri Lanka that commences today.
Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka’s senior-most bowler on their current tour of India, has been ruled out of the third Test, starting in New Delhi on December 2. The left-arm spinner had complained of back pain after the second Test in Nagpur, which the hosts won.
Young leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay is likely to be named as his replacement. It was learnt that left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara was Sri Lanka’s first choice to replace Herath but the 30-year-old failed the fitness test. Herath is due to fly back home on Thursday.
The 39-year-old Herath’s performance in the current series has been forgettable. In the first Test in Kolkata, in seamer friendly conditions, he managed just one wicket. He, however, scored a crucial 67 for the visitors. The rain-affected match ended in draw.
In the second Test in Nagpur, while Indian spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared 13 wickets between them. But Herath, the first left-arm spinner to take 400 Test wickets, returned with match figures of 39-11-81-1.
Herath’s likely replacement Vandersay has played 11 ODIs and seven T20Is for Sri Lanka, taking 14 wickets in all. His ODI average is 43 but has an economy rate of 5.74.
