Dinesh Chandimal ruled out of ODI series after suffering hairline fracture

What's the story?

Dinesh Chandimal has been ruled out of the rest of the ODI series after suffering a hairline fracture on his right thumb between India and Sri Lanka at Pallekele. The 27-year-old batsman was hit on his thumb by a rising Hardik Pandya delivery and becomes the second Sri Lankan batsman to pick up an on-field injury during the ODIs after Danushka Gunathilaka, the player he replaced.

In the 17th over, Chandimal was batting on 25 before he was hit on his thumb by a short ball bowled by Pandya. He took his eyes off the ball and his attempt to take an evasive action off the back foot, the ball struck his thumb before the deflection from the thumb hit him below the helmet.

In case you didn't know...

This wasn't even the first time in the last 12 months that Chandimal has suffered a finger injury. He missed Sri Lanka's tour of Zimbabwe in October and November last year as well. The 27-year-old was initially left out of the Sri Lanka squad for the ODI series but was drafted into the squad along with Lahiru Thirimanne after Upul Tharanga was banned for two games and Gunathilaka suffered a shoulder injury. He was playing his first match of the series.

The heart of the matter

Yet, he continued to play through the pain and was almost dismissed when he was on 35 when MS Dhoni missed an attempt to run him out. With Chandimal well short of his crease, KL Rahul threw the ball from mid wicket towards the keeper. While the throw dipped on Dhoni, he claimed the ball cleanly but then lost it as he tried to flick it onto the stumps.

Eventually, he was dismissed four balls later for 36 off the bowling of Pandya. Trying to flick the ball off his pads, Chadimal closed the face of the bat too early and got an outside edge that ballooned up in the air towards deep square leg where Jasprit Bumrah made no mistake and put Chandimal off his misery.

What's next?

Sri Lanka's injury problems continue and they simply couldn't get going after his dismissal in this game as they struggled to 217/9 and ended up losing the game and the series. They will look to announce a suitable replacement shortly.

Author's take

The injury bug has continued to plague Sri Lanka throughout the series and the 27-year-old became the latest to fall victim. With a fracture on his thumb, his chances of playing in the rest of the series looked slim even if he battled on. Now that it has been confirmed, the hosts will have to look for another player to replace the replacement who was called up for this match.