India v Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva ruled out of Dharamsala ODI

Team Sri Lanka have received a big blow ahead of their first ODI against India. Their in-form batsman Dhananjaya de Silva has been ruled out of the fixture following an injury that he sustained during the final Test at Delhi recently. The first ODI of the three-match ODI series will be played at Dharamsala on December 10. This comes as a massive dent for the visitors since Dhananjaya de Silva was a key man in their squad for the series.

In the recent times, team Sri Lanka have had a horrid run in the ODI format of the game. Having faced several whitewashes in the recent times, they are hoping to avoid one against the new look Indian side. Team India will be playing without the services of their regular skipper Virat Kohli. However, the practice of team has been going head strong.

Meanwhile, Silva’s exit will hamper the preparations of the hosts. Incidentally, it was Dhananjaya de Silva who had played a major role in helping Sri Lanka draw the final Test at Delhi. He had scored a brilliant 119 in the second innings to bat out for the major part of the final day. However, he was seen struggling just before the tea break. This forced him to retire on 119 with a thigh injury and did not bat any further in the match after that.

The knock that Silva played was a record knock too. It was the highest fourth-innings score by a visiting batsman in India. Also, in the recent times, he has been one of the very few consistent players in the Sri Lankan outfit in the recent times. In the ODI series, Sri Lanka will be led by a new skipper, Thisara Perera. They will hope for the fortunes to change with the change in the format.

Here is the Sri Lanka squad:

Thisara Perera(c), Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Chaturanga de Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dushmantha Chameera, Sachith Pathirana, Kusal Perera.