Ind vs SL: Hit by back injury, Rangana Herath to return home

As if their woeful performances on the field are not enough, Sri Lanka suffered a huge body blow on Tuesday when their most experienced spinner, left-armer Rangana Herath was ruled out of the rest of the series and will return home, it has been reliably learnt.

Herath, who played in both the first and second Tests in Kolkata and Nagpur, respectively, suffered back pain during the second Test that ended here on Monday. Herath has been repeatedly troubled by his back off late.

The 39-year-old, who took only one wicket in the two Tests this series, suffered back pain when India were in Sri Lanka earlier this year and missed the third Test in Pallekele after playing in the first two in Galle and Colombo.

Herath will be replaced by leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who is scheduled to arrive in India on Tuesday night. Herath will travel with the team to New Delhi on Wednesday and return from there to Colombo on Thursday. Vandersay has played in limited-overs for Sri Lanka but is yet to make his Test debut.

In what could have been a like-for-like replacement, Sri Lanka Cricket were looking at left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara, who debuted against India in Colombo. However, he failed a fitness test and hence missed the bus, letting the 27-year-old Vandersay fly to India.