A second COVID-19 case in the Sri Lankan camp and Lasith Embuldeniya’s axing from the Test squad have paved the way for Sri Lanka to field one of their youngest ever Test debutants against Australia this week.
Praveen Jayawickrama, the hosts’ back-up left-arm spinner, has been ruled out of Friday’s second Test in Galle after testing positive to the virus on Monday, the team’s second case in five days after Angelo Mathews had to be replaced during the series opener after also returning a positive test.
With incumbent left-arm orthodox tweaker Lasith Embuldeniya removed from the squad altogether, it looks set to open the door for Dunith Wellalage, Sri Lanka’s Under-19 World Cup captain from earlier this year who troubled the Australians during his maiden ODI campaign last month, to come into the Test side.
The 19-year-old was one of two standby players for the first Test but was added to the Sri Lanka squad on Tuesday along with two other uncapped spinners, Maheesh Theekshanna and Lakshitha Manasinghe.
Embuldeniya struggled during the first Test and finished as the only spinner from either side not to take a wicket on a raging turner while also going at close to five runs per over.
Coach Chris Silverwood admitted Embuldeniya was having confidence issues and bowled too full.
Wellalage was the leading wicket taker in the recent ODI campaign that Sri Lanka won 3-2, snaring nine wickets at 22.33 in an impressive first series at international level.
If Wellalage, who also the leading bowler at the U19 World Cup in the Caribbean in January, were to get the nod over Embuldeniya on Friday, he would be Sri Lanka’s second youngest Test debutant this century and 11th youngest overall.
Off-spinner Theekshanna could also be a left-field option to play. Sri Lanka’s best bowler in the first Test was fellow offie Ramesh Mendis, but the pair could complement each other given Theekshanna’s unusual bowling armoury, which includes a carrom ball.
Debutant leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay also struggled to control the scoring rate in the first Test, taking two wickets but going at nearly seven runs per over.
Australia found Theekshanna difficult to score off in the ODIs (scoring at only 4.30 against him) and he posed a greater threat as pitches became more spin friendly as the series wore on.
