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Kapugedera ruled out of series; Malinga to lead

Sri Lanka's stand-in captain aggravated a back injury during Sunday's ODI against India in Pallekele

Stand-in captain Chamara Kapugedera's has been ruled out of the remainder of ODI series after a medical examination. Kapugedera aggravated a back injury during the third ODI on Sunday. He had been nursing a stiff back before the third ODI, but had batted and fielded in that game. In his absence, Lasith Malinga will assume the captaincy, chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya has said.
The stiffness in Kapugedera's back had been mild in the approach to the third game, and had not prompted much concern. "He did have the issue in Kandy, but I think when he went into bat, it got worse," manager Asanka Gurusinha said.
Kapugedara becomes the fifth Sri Lanka batsman to become unavailable. Danushka Gunathilaka was ruled out with a shoulder strain (though there remains a small possibility he could recover in time for the next match), and Upul Tharanga had been suspended due to a slow over rate. Dinesh Chandimal, who was brought into the squad ahead of the third ODI, was ruled out with a fractured finger. Wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, and batting allrounder Asela Gunaratne had earlier also been ruled out of the series with injuries.
Malinga has previously captained Sri Lanka's T20 side, including in the final stages of the World T20 triumph in 2014.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando