Dinesh Chandimal has surgery after injuring hand

Dinesh Chandimal was injured during a domestic game – AP

ESPNcricinfo: Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal has had surgery after being struck on the hand during a domestic match last week.

Chandimal was hit on the right thumb during a mercantile match, and is likely to undergo a few more tests before SLC takes a call on his availability for their upcoming international assignments.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe in October and November, and South Africa for a Test and one-day series in December.

Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s vice-captain, recently stood in as captain during a part of the ODI and T20I home series against Australia, after Angelo Mathews suffered a calf injury. Chandimal has played 31 Tests, 119 ODIs and 45 T20Is and has captained the side in 3 ODIs and 21 T20Is.

Chandimal was appointed captain of the T20I side in February 2013 and led the team until after the 2014 World T20. At the age of 23, he was Sri Lanka’s youngest captain across formats.

He was relieved of the captaincy after Sri Lanka’s successful run at the 2014 World T20 because the selectors wanted him to focus solely on his batting.