Sri Lanka has added Mahesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, and Lakshitha Manasinghe to their squad for the second Test after losing Jayawickrama. All three spinners, Wellalage and Manasinghe have good batting hands. None of them have made their Test debuts yet.

Left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldenia could not make an impact in the first Test that Sri Lanka lost. He has also been released from the squad. In the second Test starting on Friday, Jayawickrama’s game was somehow certain. But Covid got in the way. The 23-year-old left-arm spinner has taken 25 wickets in five Tests so far. He was wicketless in the last Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur last May. According to the rules, now he has to stay in isolation for at least 5 days.

After Jayawickrama tested positive, everyone in the Sri Lanka team was tested for antigen. Everyone has been negative. Manasinghe, who came into the squad, recently took 13 wickets in two unofficial Tests for Sri Lanka ‘A’ against Australia ‘A’. The 23-year-old off-spinning all-rounder has 73 wickets in 17 first-class matches and has five wickets in five overs.

However, it is expected that the fight to replace Embuldenia will be between Theekshana and Wellalage. Theekshana has already become the team’s biggest hope in limited-overs cricket. Although a lot of mystery came up in the discussion as a spinner, he has played only three first-class matches.

After all-rounder Wellalage came up for discussion in the Under-19 World Cup this time, he played for Sri Lanka in 5 matches of the ODI series on this tour of Australia. He took the highest 9 wickets of the series with 5.43 runs per over. Although he can’t do well with the bat, he has the ability. He has played 11 first-class matches so far. He took 34 wickets and scored 362 runs at an average of 24.13.
If the team wants to play extra spinners, of course, both of them can be in the XI.

Despite losing Jayawickrama, Sri Lanka is waiting for good news. The isolation of Angelo Mathews, who was knocked out positive during the first Test, ends on Tuesday. Sri Lanka Cricket hopes that the experienced batsman will recover and join the team.