Fernando hurt his finger while attempting a return catch from Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the first one-dayer at Rajkot on Tuesday and now it turns out that the right-arm quick would require about four-weeks’ time to recover from the blow.
“Fernando hurt his finger during the first match and it appears that he needs some time to recuperate from the injury, and so we have decided to send him back home. His replacement will be announced shortly,” said Lankan team manager Brendon Kuruppu.
Meanwhile the visitors have summoned two untested spinners – Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv -- in bid to strengthen their spin attack.
Off-spinner Pushpakumara was part of the Twenty20 squad and appeared in the first game that Sri Lanka managed to win, their lone success on the Indian tour so far.
Randiv, also known as Suraj Mohamed, is yet to play for his country in any format though the offie was part of the Sri Lankan Test squad against Pakistan earlier this year. The tweakers are expected to join the squad in time for the second ODI in Nagpur on Friday.
With Fernando out, Kumar Sangakkara’s men will now be hoping Lasith Malinga, who missed the first ODI due to injury, would be fit for the second match. Both the Indian and Lankan teams arrived in Nagpur on Tuesday evening.
India won the thrilling first match by three runs after scoring a mammoth 414.
Upton tests negative for flu
After Gautam Gambhir, video analyst Dhananjaya and team manager Mayank Parekh, it was the turn of mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton to undergo precautionary tests for swine flu-like symptoms, and fortunately the results proved negative.
Paceman S Sreesanth had tested positive for the H1N1 virus prior to the Mohali T20 match and had to be hospitalised. He was discharged on Wednesday.
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