Back pain rules Rangana Herath out of Pallekele Test

Sri Lanka suffered a major blow as veteran spinner Rangana Herath has been rested for the third and the final Test against India in Pallekele due to a back pain.

The 39-year-old complained about a stiff back during his side's huge defeat by an innings and 53 runs in the second Test against India in Colombo.

Confirming the news, Sri Lanka cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha said that they had decided not to risk Herath after he has had a heavy workload over the past three weeks.

"This is where our player management comes in, because we don't want to break anyone. We made the call not to risk Herath because he's also bowled close to 200 overs in the three Tests. That's a lot for his body," ESPNcricinfo quoted Gurusinha as saying.

Meanwhile, Herath revealed that he would stay in Colombo rather than traveling to Kandy with the team in order to receive treatment.

As a result, two players will be roped in to the Lanka Test squad to replace Herath and the already-injured Nuwan Pradeep

Herath has had an extremely busy schedule in the last few weeks, having bowled 71.1 overs in the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe besides a combined 91 overs in the two Test matches against India.

And it seems that the selectors have made the decision to leave him out for the final Test, keeping in mind his age and upcoming Test series against Pakistan.

Lanka, who are trailing 0-2 in the ongoing three-match Test series, will play a dead rubber match against the Virat Kohli-led side from August 12.