Asela Gunaratne ruled out of the first Test with fractured thumb

07/26/2017

Sri Lankan all-rounder Asela Gunaratne has been ruled out of the rest of the Test match against India after he suffered a fracture in his left thumb while fielding today during the Galle Test. Gunaratne was at the second slip when he dropped Shikhar Dhawan's catch and hurt his thumb in the process.

Sri Lanka suffered another setback shortly after the start of the first Test between India and the hosts today. Lahiru Kumara bowled a delivery that was angling away from opener Shikhar Dhawan who couldn't resist poking at the delivery. Dhawan edged the delivery to Asela Gunaratne at the second slip who put in a dive to get to the ball but failed as the ball hit his left thumb and went down on the ground.

The catch not only cost Sri Lanka the important wicket of dangerous looking Shikhar Dhawan who is currently playing at 127 but also cost them their in-form batsman Asela Gunaratne who had to be rushed to Colombo for a surgery on his fractured left thumb as reported by Cricbuzz.

Sri Lanka has already lost their new captain Dinesh Chandimal who has been ruled out of the first two Tests because of pneumonia and Gunaratne's departure will hurt the Islanders even more as the 31-year old was instrumental in Sri Lanka's record 392-run chase against Zimbabwe. The all-rounder scored an unbeaten 80 weaving a match-winning partnership with Niroshan Dickwella to take his side across the finishing line.

The 31-year old is known for his explosive batting and averages 56.87 in Tests and has a century and three half-centuries to his name.