Wanindu Hasaranga likely to be ruled out of Sri Lanka’s T20I series against India

Just ahead of an important series against India, Sri Lanka might be divested of one of their key players, Wanindu Hasaranga, as he returned a positive test for an infection that was diagnosed a week back that took him off the Australia series midway.

Unless there is a negative result, Hasaranga will not be able to join the travelling Lankan team for the upcoming series. He is currently stationed in Melbourne as his recovery continues.

He is currently third in the T20I bowlers’ rankings and was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs 10.75 crore. He tested positive for the virus on February 15th.

Even though he was expected to be available for the India series, the current situation indicates that he will be out of the side at least for the T20 series. Further testing will divulge whether he will be available for the upcoming Test leg of the tour.

According to the words of Arjuna de Silva, the head of SLC’s medical department has quoted that Australia needs a higher CT value to return negative reports. However, he was hopeful of the fact that the all-rounder will soon be on his way to India.

Talking to ESPN Cricinfo, he said, “Wanindu has finished his seven-day isolation. His CT value is very high in any case, so we hope that by tomorrow his PCR should be negative. It's not that he has got a new infection, it's just that he has not cleared the old infection according to their (Australia's) level. Each country has a different cut-off for a positive result, Australia's is fairly high and so to reach that value takes some time.”

He further added, “He'll miss the first match [against India] for sure. Our job is to get him to India. Of course, whether he plays or not is a different matter. That depends on his fitness and other factors.”

He continued, “We're doing PCRs daily, so as soon he's negative, he can fly to India - maybe even tomorrow. He will then have to be assessed by the team doctor and the physio to determine if he can play any part in the tour. At the moment, he has no symptoms."

Sri Lanka will play three T20Is and two Test matches in India after which the preparations for the IPL begin.