After seamer Vikwa Fernando pulled up with an injury, Sri Lanka selected uncapped offspinner Nishan Peiris for the second and final Test match against New Zealand.
In a statement released on Tuesday, SLC stated that fast bowler Vishwa Fernando had experienced tightness in his right hamstring during practice. The fast bowler would receive rehabilitation at the board’s high-performance centre.
Seam hasn’t played a big part in the Sri Lankan team thus far, so it’s unlikely that Vishwa would have made the squad for Thursday’s second Test against New Zealand, which Sri Lanka won by 63 runs.
Peiris, who is 27 years old, may, nonetheless, have a remote chance of cracking the starting lineup. He was included in the Test squad twice previously, in March of this year and back in 2018. However, he has not yet made his debut. However, there is significant uncertainty regarding Ramesh Mendis’s place in the team after captain Dhananjaya de Silva criticised his performance after the first Test.
“For the second New Zealand Test, Sri Lanka has called up uncapped offspinner Nishan Peiris.”
Mendis took six wickets in the first Test, three in each innings, including the crucial wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the second innings. At his best, Mendis can be challenging to tackle because of his dip and turn. However, he was often uncontrollable and his leakiness often relieved some of the load on the New Zealand batsmen. Even though he played considerably better in the second innings, he still had the lowest economy rate among the spinners in Sri Lanka.
Peiris has amassed 172 first-class wickets at an average of 24.37 from 41 games. In the inaugural unofficial Test, he took three wickets while playing for Sri Lanka A in South Africa.
(Cricinfo)
