The 39-year-old Herath bowled only eight overs in two innings at the Eden Gardens owing to the nature of the pitch that assisted pacers more than spinners. However, on the docile pitch that Nagpur had to offer, he had to work overtime bowling 39 overs. After the game, Herath had complained of back pains and it appears Sri Lanka don’t want to risk the spinner and have taken him off the roster for the Delhi Test that begins on December 2.

His replacement, Vandersay, has not represented Sri Lanka in the longest format of the game yet. He does, however, have 11 ODI and 7 T20I caps to his name. The visitors, however, already have chinaman Lakshan Sandakan in their initial squad and it is likely that he will get the nod over Vandersay.

Sri Lanka squad for 3rd Test : Dinesh Chandimal(c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Lahiru Gamage, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Niroshan Dickwella, Roshen Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay.