Thushara, a certainty in the playing eleven, was ruled out of the first Test after a freak collision with reserve wicket-keeper Kaushal Silva during training on on Sunday, a day before the first Test began here.
The 28-year-old left-arm paceman underwent tests on his injured shoulder on Monday which revealed that he would be need at least two weeks to recover from his injury, following which the team management and the selection panel decided to send him home for rehabilitation.
"Thilan Thushara will return to Sri Lanka due to a shoulder injury, and as such he will not be match fit for approximately 2 to 4 weeks," Sri Lankan Cricket said in a statement. "Thilan will be sent back and Dilhara Fernando will replace him.”
The 30-year-old Fernando had originally been pencilled in only for the two T20 internationals against India on December 9 and 12. Fernando made his Test debut in 2000, but a succession of injury woes and form and fitness issues have ensured that he has played just 33 Tests, which have brought him 88 wickets.
