Sri Lanka suffered an injury blow on Day 4 of the first Test against India as batter Dinesh Chandimal was taken to hospital for scans after injuring his shoulder and neck while fielding. Chandimal sustained an injury to his right shoulder and neck while diving to prevent a boundary during the first session on Tuesday. “He was assessed by the team physiotherapist and doctor on the ground and has been taken to the hospital for a precautionary scan,” Sri Lanka Cricket said, adding that “further updates will be provided once the scan results are available.”
India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul played a sweep towards deep backward square leg, where Chandimal moved across from the left and slid to keep it to two runs. He stopped the ball but appeared to tumble over completely, with much of his body weight landing on his neck and shoulder.
Chandimal was seen holding the back of his neck. The team physio came on to assess him before he was forced to leave the field.
The 36-year-old batter, who bats at No. 3, scored four runs off 16 balls in the first innings before falling to Manav Suthar, who impressed with his turn and bounce to claim figures of 4/76 and emerge as India’s standout bowler on Day 3. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 284, conceding a substantial 178-run lead to India.
Besides Suthar, veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja took 3/57 to complete a clinical bowling display for India. Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna also picked up a wicket each as the visitors put themselves firmly in control of the contest.
At the time of writing, India were 84/3 in the first session of Day 4, leading Sri Lanka by 262 runs, with Devdutt Padikkal (41*) and Rishabh Pant (4*) at the crease.