Sri Lanka’s highest Test match run scorer, Mahela Jayawerdene, is out of the forthcoming series with Bangladesh with a finger injury.
Former Sri Lankan captain Jayawerdene, is out for between four and six weeks after he dislocated his finger whilst fielding in a match last Sunday. The injury means he will miss Bangladesh’s entire tour of Sri Lanka next month.
The 35-year-old batsman has the most runs in Sri Lankan Test history, scoring 10,806 runs in 138 Test matches. His average of 49.56 is hugely competitive and he will be a big loss to the side. He also has an average of over 33 in both ODIs and Twenty20 games.
Jayawerdene only resigned as captain last month, after the tour of Australia. All-rounder Angelo Mathews became the new Test and one-day captain, whilst Dinesh Chandimal took over Twenty20 duties.
Sri Lanka lost the Test series to Australia 3-0, but were much more of a match in the limited over games – drawing the ODI series 2-2 and winning both of the Twenty20 games. The Bangladesh visit will be the first time Mathews takes control as captain and the absence of Jayawerdene as a consult to him, could be a real blow.
The first match on the tour starts on Friday 8 March, as the two sides play the first of two Tests at the Galle International Stadium.
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