Sri Lanka might have to find another captain as Chamara Kapugedera doubtful for next ODI

Injuries don’t seem to leave the Sri Lankan cricket any time soon as yet another player has got injured. Chamara Kapugedera, who led Sri Lanka in the third ODI, has got injured and is doubtful for the fourth ODI. Sri Lanka is currently playing the five match ODI series against India.

Kapugedera was injured just before the third ODI as well and was rushed to the hospital but was later declared he was fit to play. But now it is being reported that he had been nursing a stiff back before the last game and now has not trained since the conclusion of that match. The final decision on his availability will be taken over the next 24 hours.

Interim skipper has a stiff back

The Sri Lanka cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha confirmed the news by saying that he is not yet completely ruled out of the game. “I was talking to the physio and he hasn’t been ruled out quite yet. He’s being treated. Only five or six guys are training tonight, so anyway we gave him a break. We’ll most probably look at it tomorrow (Wednesday) at training tomorrow afternoon. If he doesn’t train tomorrow then definitely he is out,” Gurusinha said of Kapugedera injury.

He also mentioned that the captain had a stiff back and played with it in the last game. “He did have the issue in Kandy, but I think when he went into bat, it got worse. We’ll just have to wait further for the physio to tell us what’s going on,” he added.

List of injured players increases

Already in a mess, the cricket in the Island nation doesn’t seem to come to its normalcy as players are either getting injured or being banned. It all started with regular captain Upul Tharanga being banned for 2 ODIs after the second ODI for slow over rate. In the same match, opener Danushka Gunathilaka injured his shoulder while fielding at point.

In the next match, Dinesh Chandimal, who was recalled into the ODI side as a replacement, suffered a hairline fracture to his thumb while batting after being hit by Hardik Pandya bouncer. Soon it was reported that he was out of the series.

If Kapugedera is ruled out now, the selectors need to find a replacement as well as a new captain to lead the side. Also, they need to find a long term replacement to lead the side as there are reports that Tharanga could face an 8-month ban as he banned twice in the span of 3 months.