Dinesh Chandimal boost for Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Battered in the first Test by India at Galle, the beleaguered Sri Lankan team is set to receive a slight boost in its bid to bounce back in the three-Test series.
New Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who missed the first game due to a bout of pneumonia, is expected to return to lead the hosts in the second Test at the SSC this week after recovering from the illness.The Indians know the damage that Chandimal can cause -he had cracked a superb 162 to help Sri Lanka pull off a come-from-behind win in Galle over Virat Kohli & Co in the first Test of the last tour in 2015.
Meanwhile, make-shift captain and veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who suffered an injury to his finger in the first Test, is being “closely monitored” ahead of the match, which starts from Thursday.
“Dinesh should be fit. He actually played on Sunday morning and has batted the last couple of days,” Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lanka's cricket manager and selector, said. “We have to see how he is going to shape up in the next couple of days because his finger is pretty sore. We will give him till the last minute to make sure that he is fit.”
In the Isle, all junior games are telecast live
Though their team isn't doing well, Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) can teach a thing or two to their `big brothers' -the BCCI -in this regard. On Monday, an under-23 game at the CCC here was being telecast live on ‘Dialog TV' - SLC's official local telecaster. “On the initiative of our president, Thilanga Sumathipala, even the under-15 games are now being telecast live. There's even a radio broadcast of these matches, and a mobile app where you can follow them. The idea is to give maximum exposure to our youngsters,” an SLC official told TOI on Monday.
Contrast this with India, where the BCCI was reluctant to telecast even the Ranji Trophy live till the knockouts.