Theekshana in line for Test debut after Sri Lanka’s Covid outbreak

Dimuth Karunaratne said on Thursday he hopes Sri Lanka’s spin reinforcements will deliver despite their team’s Covid outbreak on the eve of the second Test against Australia.

One-day heroes Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage could be handed Test caps as the hosts bid for a comeback in the final Test starting Friday on an expected turner at Galle.

Batting all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay and fast bowler Asitha Fernando were the latest to get the virus after left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama was ruled out on Tuesday.

The team will undergo another round of testing before Karunaratne gets down to finalise the XI but the captain believes Theekshana could replace de Silva.

“All the spinners are available in the 13-man squad, so if they are cleared to play we can use Prabath (Jayasuriya) as a left-arm spinner,” said Karunaratne.

“And Maheesh because we don’t have Dhananjaya de Silva as a second off-spin bowler as they have plenty of left-handers in top-order.”

Theekshana, a mystery spinner who turns the ball both ways, claimed four wickets and kept Australia’s batsmen in check in the ODI series which the hosts won 3-2. Karunaratne said Test cricket is a different ball game but backed Theekshana to replicate his white-ball success.

“He is a good bowler. We saw him giving trouble to the left-handers and the right-handers in one-dayers,” said Karunaratne. “Hopefully he does the same thing. Just want him to do the same what he did in the ODIs, keep it simple.”