Rangana Herath to lead Sri Lanka against India in first two Tests

"We were actually only told late last night - the blood Test came a bit late. He's got pneumonia. He was admitted to hospital this morning at 9am, and he's definitely out of the first Test,” Asanka Gurusinha, the team's cricket manager, was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

In his absence, Herath, who had earlier led Sri Lanka to a 2-0 win in Zimbabwe last year, will lead the side against the top ranked Test team in the world. The veteran spinner also led Sri Lanka in the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh in March this year.

Initially, Chandimal was scheduled to address a joint press conference alongside his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli and the coaching staff of the two teams on Thursday evening, but Tharanga stepped in as the player representative from the Sri Lankan camp. 

India will start the tour with the first Test in Galle before heading to Colombo for the second Test. The third Test will be played in Pallekele and the series will be followed by five ODIs and a one-off T20I. This is the first time India will play all three formats of the game in the Emerald Isle.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's fast bowling coach Chamapaka Ramanayake stepped down from his role and former Sri Lanka pacer Chaminda Vaas has been requested by the SLC to help the senior side for the India series.