Wanindu Hasaranga will not play in Sri Lanka's upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh, meaning the side will be without their star leg spinner for all three matches. Here's why.
Hasaranga ruled-out of T20Is
Having played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka's 2-1 ODI series win last week, Hasaranga picked up an injury while batting in the final match of the series. He scored 18* off 14 at the end of the innings as Sri Lanka posted a total of 285-7, including a century from Kusal Mendis. Despite the injury, Hasaranga went on to bowl 8.4 overs in the chase, taking figures of 2-35 as Sri Lanka won by 99 runs.
However, after the game it was revealed that Hasaranga had picked up a hamstring injury on his right leg, and that he will return to Colombo to begin his rehabilitation at the High Performance Centre. Sri Lanka have not named a replacement for the leg-spinner, but have made several changes to their T20I squad from the side that was beaten by New Zealand earlier this year. Ranked No.5 in the ICC's T20I all-rounder rankings, Hasaranga will be a significant loss.
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Sri Lanka secure ODI series-win over Bangladesh
Sri Lanka completed a series-win on home soil on Tuesday (July 8), winning the third ODI in Pallekele. Mendis's century sealed his player-of-the-series award for his 225 runs across the three games.
In the second match of the series, Bangladesh had inflicted a dramatic collapse as Sri Lanka crumbled from 82-2 to 170-8. Tanvir Islam took his maiden international five-for as Bangladesh defended 248 to level the series.
In the opening match, Hasaranga played a pivotal role with both bat and ball, scoring 22 amidst a collapse before taking exceptional figures of 4-10 off 7.5 overs to lead Sri Lanka in defending 244. Despite Sri Lanka's loss in the second game, Hasaranga had something to celebrate as he broke Shaun Pollock's record to become the fastest player to score 1,000 ODI runs and wickets during the game.
The T20I series will begin on July 10 in Pallekele, before stopping in Dambulla on July 13 and concluding in Colombo on July 16.
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