Pathum Nissanka will miss out on the Test portion of Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of Pakistan, having already been forced to sit out the preceding T20I and ODI legs of the campaign due to a persistent left hamstring injury. In the wake of his continued absence, national selectors have called up Lahiru Udara as his replacement in the Test squad, handing the 32-year-old right-hand batter a fresh opportunity to cement his place in the longest format of the game.
Sri Lanka Cricket had initially given Nissanka every possible chance to recover in time for the multi-format series, naming the dynamic top-order batter in both the limited-overs and Test squads subject to passing late fitness assessments. However, with the hamstring issue failing to clear up satisfactorily, the team management and medical staff decided against rushing him back to the field. The revised recovery roadmap for Nissanka now focuses on securing his complete rehabilitation and full match fitness in time for Sri Lanka’s scheduled tour of India, which is set to take place in December.
Nissanka’s unfortunate setback serves as an immediate lifeline for Udara, who might understandably have felt aggrieved after being omitted from the Test setup following the conclusion of the previous home summer. Udara, an experienced campaigner in domestic cricket, has accumulated an impressive 8,771 first-class runs at a robust average of 42.57. Although he made a relatively late entrance onto the international stage, the wicketkeeper-batter has previously demonstrated his capability at the highest level, notably scoring a maiden Test century earlier this year during Sri Lanka’s hard-fought tour of the West Indies.
That career-defining milestone in the Caribbean, however, was preceded and followed by fluctuating fortunes. Udara experienced a lean string of performances when Sri Lanka hosted India for a two-match Test series, a difficult stretch that ultimately prompted selectors to drop him from the active playing XI. The swift return to the squad now offers the right-hander a valuable second chance to prove his red-ball credentials on foreign soil in demanding Pakistani conditions.
For Nissanka, the ongoing struggle with injuries continues to disrupt what has otherwise been a remarkably promising international career. The premier batter had also missed the home Test series against India earlier in the year, as he was busy recovering from a surgical procedure on his wrist. That medical intervention had forced him to withdraw from the field prematurely, right after the conclusion of the first Test against the West Indies.
That initial appearance in the Caribbean had marked Nissanka’s first red-ball outing since June 2025, a period during which he enjoyed a prolific run of form by scoring back-to-back centuries against Bangladesh. Even during that phase, however, his overall participation in Test matches had been carefully monitored and occasionally interrupted due to a deliberate strategy of injury management implemented by the team’s medical personnel.
Having first made his international debut in 2021, Nissanka has rapidly evolved into one of the very few genuine all-format stars for Sri Lanka, carrying immense responsibility across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. Across his 19 Test matches to date, he has accumulated 1,310 runs at a healthy average of 42.25, underpinned by four centuries and seven half-centuries. His consistent ability to anchor innings and score runs in varied conditions makes his prolonged absence a significant blow to Sri Lanka’s batting depth as they prepare for the challenge in Pakistan.
As the team transitions without one of its most reliable top-order anchors, the spotlight will now shift to Udara and the rest of the touring party to fill the considerable void left by Nissanka’s absence in the upcoming Test series.
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