Pathum Nissanka’s wrist surgery has turned Sri Lanka’s second Test against West Indies into a sharper selection problem before the first ball in Antigua.
Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed on Friday that Nissanka had persistent wrist pain after the first Test and was advised to undergo surgery, with the opener leaving for the United Kingdom on 30 June.
He is not the only absentee. Lahiru Kumara is rehabilitating a grade one right hamstring strain, Vishwa Fernando remains unavailable after a recurrence of right-sided lower back, trunk and hip pain, and Ramesh Mendis is recovering from a bacterial infection contracted during the tour.
Sri Lanka’s batting picture tightens
The timing is brutal. West Indies routed Sri Lanka by an innings and 217 runs in the opening Test, and Cricket West Indies has the second match running from 3-7 July at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Nissanka’s absence puts extra weight on Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva to give Sri Lanka a cleaner first-innings platform. It also strips the tourists of one of their more stable top-order players at the exact point they need to drag the series away from West Indies’ pace attack.
For a side already chasing a response, this is now less about rotation and more about damage limitation across both disciplines.
