Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal out of first Test with India after pneumonia diagnosis
Tuesday 1 August 2017 18:57, UK
Rangana Herath will captain Sri Lanka after Dinesh Chandimal was ruled out of the first Test against India with pneumonia.
Chandimal was only named captain earlier this month after Angelo Mathews stepped down following their one-day international series defeat against Zimbabwe.
He missed Thursday's press conference with what was initially described as a bout of flu but team manager Asanka Gurusinha said on Friday that Chandimal had since been hospitalised and would not be available for the first Test, which starts in Galle on Wednesday.
Herath has captained Sri Lanka before and the 39-year-old showed off his good form with 11 wickets in the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe, which they won by four wickets after chasing a target of 388.
"We were actually only told late last night - the blood test came a bit late. He [Chandimal] has got pneumonia," Gurusinha said.
"He was admitted to hospital this morning and he's definitely out of the first Test.
"The doctors have advised us this morning to say: 'Finish the first Test' and they'll advise us afterwards. If they tell us he needs another week to recover, that's it. We can't do anything."
