Asitha Fernando replaces ill Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka squad for India T20Is

Sri Lanka National Cricket Team have faced a major blow ahead of the three-match T20I series against India National Cricket Team. Star pacer Dushmantha Chameera on Wednesday (24th July) got ruled out of all three games against Men in Blue as per the reports in Sri Lanka media.

Dushmantha Chameera has been ruled out of the series due to the illness. This comes the day after the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team announced their squad for the three-match series against India. His absence will leave a massive void in the team considering the kind of experience that he has.

Dushmantha Chameera has been the highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in the T20Is against India. The pacer has troubled Indian batters a lot in the past as he has picked 16 wickets from 15 games at an average of 26.68. With the kind of impact that he has made in the games between the two teams, he would be gutted to miss the upcoming series.

Dushmantha Chameera was last seen in action during the recently concluded Lankan Premier League (LPL) 2024. The pacer didn't have the kind of outing he would've wanted. Playing for Kandy Falcons, he bagged six wickets at an average of 33.16 and an economy rate of 9.95 in the five games that he played.

Earlier, there were reports which claimed that Dushmantha Chameera would be missing the series against India due to the injury that he faced in the Lankan Premier League. But the recent reports claimed that the fast bowler isn't down with injury but will be missing the games due to illness.

Dushmantha Chameera has been one of the most unfortunate pacers in World cricket. His career has been marred by a lot of injuries. He earlier missed the ODI series against Afghanistan due to a quadriceps injury and has been dealing with a lot of side strains and a stress fracture in his back of late, which has seen him missing a lot of games.

Dushmantha Chameera was also part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad for the Indian Premier League. The pacer, however, didn't get many opportunities in the league due to the presence of Mitchell Starc on the team. He played just one game and didn't have a great outing with the ball in that.

Dushmantha Chameera is also part of the ODI series against India. There isn't any clarity if he will be playing in that series or not. But with him being down with illness and 50-over games slated to take place from next month, it is expected that he might play in the ODIs.

Asitha Fernando replaces Dushmantha Chameera in the Sri Lanka T20I squad

With Dushmantha Chameera getting ruled out of the T20I series against India, Asitha Fernando has been called into the team to replace the pacer. Fernando has played three T20Is for Sri Lanka and has picked two wickets in the game. He will be joining Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara in the squad as a fast bowler.

Here's the Sri Lanka updated squad for the three-match series:

Charith Asalanka (C), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Janith Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Asitha Fernando, Binura Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Dunith Wellalage.

The first match of the series will be played on the 27th of July, followed by the last two games slated to take place on the 28th and 30th of July, respectively. The games will be played in the evening and will start from 7:00 PM IST