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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Sangakkara doubtful for India tour

Sangakkara doubtful for India tour

October 22, 2014 13:03 IST
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Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara. Photograph: Reuters

Experienced Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been rendered a doubtful starter for the five-match ODI series against India due to a back injury.

Sangakkara, who had questioned the wisdom of the hurriedly arranged series in the wake West Indies' sudden end to their India tour, has developed a slight back injury, team sources said.

All-rounder Thisara Perera has also suffered a hamstring injury of a serious nature the team sources added.

Sanath Jayasuriya, the Chairman of selectors, said either wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella or left-handed batsman Kithuruwan Withanage would replace Sangakkara in case the senior batsman fails to make it.

Sangakkara in a tweet had questioned the wisdom of the tour.

"Our 6 weeks of pure fitness work ends abruptly. Have a week to do a months’ requirement of skills work before India. Planning ahead anyone?” the former skipper asked in a tweet.

The Sri Lankan cricket team are currently under a intense fitness programme conducted by the former national rugby union skipper Chandrishan Perera.

The programme was tasked at conditioning players for the busy schedule ahead leading up to next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The current fitness programme was a sequel to a report filed by the SLC's chief operations officer Carlton Bernadus, which had raised concerns about the fitness levels and the fielding standards.

Sri Lankans were to face England in a seven-match home ODI series before heading off to New Zealand for a Test and ODI series.

The sudden management decision to fill in the void due to West Indies' pull-out from the remainder of India tour has upset the work schedule of the Sri Lankans.

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