Kusal Perera to replace injured Thirimanne

An ankle injury has ruled Lahiru Thirimanne out of the remainder of the three-Test series against Pakistan. Thirimanne, who twisted his right ankle, joined seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who suffered an injured hamstring, on the flight back to Sri Lanka. Neither Thirimanne nor Kulasekara had played the first Test in Abu Dhabi.

"The decision to send Thirimanne home was taken yesterday as his injured ankle is not responding to treatment," said Sri Lanka team manager Michael de Zoysa.

Kusal Perera will replace Thirimanne in the squad. The 23-year-old Perera has played 19 ODIs but is yet to make his Test debut. "We don't have a back-up if another batsman gets injured so we requested for Kusal," said de Zoysa.

Sri Lanka, who have four other fast bowlers in their squad, have not called for a player to replace Kulasekara. The second Test starts in Dubai on Wednesday.