Seamer Vishwa Fernando pulled up with an injury, so Sri Lanka selected uncapped off spinner Nishan Peiris for the second and final Test against New Zealand.
The fast bowler will receive rehabilitation at the board’s high-performance centre, according to a statement released by SLC on Tuesday. “Vishwa Fernando had developed a tightness in his right hamstring while practicing,” the statement read.
Seam hasn’t played a big part in the Sri Lankan team thus far, so it’s unlikely that Vishwa would have made the squad for Thursday’s second Test against New Zealand, which Sri Lanka won by 63 runs.
Nishan Peiris, who is 27 years old, may, nonetheless, have a remote chance of cracking the starting lineup.
He was included in the Test squad twice previously, in 2018 and March of this year, although he has not yet made an appearance. However, there is significant uncertainty regarding Ramesh Mendis‘s place in the team after captain Dhananjaya de Silva criticised his performance after the first Test.
In the first Test, Mendis took six wickets, three in each innings, including the crucial wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the second innings. At his best, Mendis can be challenging to tackle because of his dip and turn. However, he was often uncontrollable and his leakiness often relieved some of the load on the New Zealand batsmen. Even with a much better second innings performance, he still had the lowest economy rate among Sri Lanka’s spinners.
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Peiris has amassed 172 first-class wickets at an average of 24.37 from 41 games. In the inaugural unofficial Test, he took three wickets while playing for Sri Lanka A in South Africa.
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