Pasindu Sooriyabandara came on as a substitute fielder and ended up making his Test debut as a concussion sub in Galle. But what about the catch he took before making his debut?
Despite not being in the playing XI, Sooriyabandara had a pretty busy day at the Galle International Stadium. He came on as a substitute fielder after Dinesh Chandimal walked off due to injury. The latter dived near the boundary line and saved two runs for his team early in the first session of the fourth day’s play.
He was seen holding the back of his neck before walking off the field. He was taken to hospital for precautionary scans, which ruled out any major internal injury. However, Chandimal suffered a concussion and was eventually ruled out of the remainder of the Test to pave the way for Sooriyabandara’s Test debut in dramatic circumstances.
However, before making his debut as a concussion substitute, the 26-year-old took a brilliant flying catch at deep backward square leg to send Ravindra Jadeja packing off Lahiru Kumara’s bowling in the 43rd over. Four overs later, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that Chandimal was ruled out of the Test and Sooriyabandara was replacing him.
Since the catch was taken while serving as a substitute fielder before his official Test debut, does this dismissal count toward his career statistics? Currently, there is no explicit provision in the ICC’s playing conditions for such a scenario.
As per the ICC Test playing conditions, both the concussion replacement and the replaced player shall be considered to have played in the match for records and statistical purposes. While Sooriyabandara's batting performance will be recorded alongside Chandimal's earlier contributions, it remains unclear whether the catch Sooriyabandara took before his official debut will count toward his career statistics.
Pasindu Sooriyabandara bags golden duck on debut
Little did Sooriyabandara know on the fourth morning that he would end up becoming a Test player for his country. However, the memorable day didn’t end on a good note for him, as Sri Lanka’s number three batter bagged a golden duck in his debut outing with the bat. He was dismissed LBW by Manav Suthar as India overturned the on-field decision with the help of DRS.
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