Lahiru Kumara axed from SL squad for breaking team curfew

Tuesday, 6 November 2018 00:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNCricinfo: Sri Lanka fast bowler Lahiru Kumara has been removed from the Sri Lanka Test squad on disciplinary grounds. He has been replaced by Dushmantha Chameeera.

Kumara is understood to have broken the team curfew on Sunday evening – two days before the first Test in Galle is set to begin. Sri Lanka’s team management has been especially strict on curfew times and player discipline over the past two months, after two players, Danushka Gunathilaka and Jeffrey Vandersay, were found guilty of serious breaches of discipline during the South Africa and West Indies series, respectively.

Gunathilaka had failed to return to his room before curfew in the midst of a Test in Colombo. Vandersay, meanwhile, had been out so long after a night out in St. Lucia that the team bus to the airport was delayed the following morning.

Kumara has generally been Sri Lanka’s second-choice seamer, after Suranga Lakmal, and had stood a chance of playing at least one match in the three-Test series against England. Earlier in the year, Kumar had been especially impressive in the West Indies, where he claimed 17 wickets at an average of 19.88 across the three Tests.

Chameera, his replacement, has not played a Test since the end of 2016, partly due to injury. He is something of a like-for-like replacement, in that he is also capable of bowling at over 145kph.