Mixed news for Sri Lanka on injury front

Sri Lanka are expecting to welcome back skipper Dinesh Chandimal for the second Test against India, a helpful boost for the hosts after India completed a comprehensive victory in Galle on Saturday.

Chandimal took over from Angelo Mathews as Test skipper earlier this month but missed the first Test after he was hospitalised due to pneumonia.

Quick Single: India complete mauling in Galle

Veteran Rangana Herath, who himself is hopeful of playing the second Test after suffering a finger injury in Galle, was confident of Chandimal's return in Colombo this week.

"There's no confirmation, but I expect him to play the next game," Herath said.

There was bad news, however, for batsman Asela Gunaratne, who will be out for up to two months after breaking his finger on the opening morning of the first Test.

Herath, who bowled just nine overs in India's second innings and didn't bat on Saturday, was hopeful without being certain that he would play the second Test.

"We had an x-ray yesterday," he said. "It doesn't show any fracture.

"But I had a fracture three years ago in the same area and that's the reason there's a bit of swelling and soreness. Hopefully over the next few days it will get better."

While the injuries to Herath and Gunaratne no doubt hurt the hosts in Galle, the stand-in skipper lamented how India were able to dominate the match from the opening session.

"We are a better team than this, we certainly are," the veteran said.

"I felt that it was after a long time a team score 600 runs against us. We should have bowled better.

"The other point is most of our batsmen got closer to three figures and got out, whereas the Indian batters made big hundreds.

"That was a big difference too in the game. That's an area that we need to work on moving forward."

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India's win helped them extend their lead at the top of the ICC's Test rankings and they could grab a lead of up to 15 rankings points if results go their way over the coming weeks.

Victory to England over South Africa at The Oval in the coming days would extend India's lead over the Proteas to 11 points and a 3-0 series sweep would put Virat Kohli's side even further ahead of the chasing pack.