Dinesh Chandimal ruled out of opening Test against India; Upul Tharanga to replace him

Colombo, July 21: Sri Lanka cricket team suffered a massive setback ahead of the opening Test against India as their skipper Dinesh Chandimal has been ruled out of the Galle Test.

Chandimal named SL Test captain" title="India-SL series schedule; Chandimal named SL Test captain" />India-SL series schedule; Chandimal named SL Test captain

Chandimal, 27, has been admitted to the hospital after he was reportedly suspected of pneumonia on Friday (July 21). There is also a possibility that he might miss the second match as well.

Sri Lanka's ODI skipper Upul Tharanga has been named the captain of the Test squad and the veteran batsman will be leading the side against India.

"We were actually only told late last night - the blood Test came a bit late. He's got pneumonia," Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lanka's cricket manager, was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.

"He was admitted to hospital this morning at 9 AM, and he's definitely out of the first Test.

"The doctors have advised us this morning to '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. He had started feeling unwell on Tuesday after the Zimbabwe Test, but we never suspected it would be anything like pneumonia."

The cricketer has, however, been cleared of dengue, which has been rife in Sri Lanka over the past few months.

They will certainly miss their newly-appointed captain, who led them to a historic win against Zimbabwe earlier this week, in both the games.

The hosts will clash with the number one-ranked Test side, India, at Galle in the first Test, starting July 26. The second Test will be played at Colombo and the two teams will face each other at Pallekele for the third Test.

Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe with a record run-chase in the one-off Test match. Chandimal was appointed the skipper of the team in the longer format after Angelo Matthews stepped down from his position following the ODI series loss against Zimababwe.

Chandimal slammed a match winning 162 at Galle when India last met Sri Lanka here back in 2015. Sri Lanka defeated India by 63 runs in the opening Test and took 1-0 lead. But Team India came back strongly and won the second and third Tests to clinch the series.

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