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West Indies are doubtless still reeling from their last-over defeat to Pakistan on Wednesday, but their captain, Chris Gayle, is adamant that his side will bounce back

Cricinfo staff13-Nov-2008
Chris Gayle’s thumping century came in a losing cause in the first ODI © AFP
West Indies are doubtless still reeling from their last-over defeat to Pakistan on Wednesday, but their captain, Chris Gayle, is adamant that his side will bounce back.”We are positive despite being hurt,” Gayle said, “because we have two games left and need to come up with a better plan for a victory.”West Indies were seemingly heading for a comfortable win after Gayle’s aggressive 113 boosted their total to a challenging 294 for 9. But Jerome Taylor conceded 17 off the final over of Pakistan’s chase, with Kamran Akmal smashing him for two sixes to steal a breathless win for.”What happened was that I bowled one over and Taylor was supposed to come and replace me, but I bowled a good 47th over so I continued and he was left to bowl the last over. It was unfortunate for him that he conceded 17 runs,” Gayle said. “Our bowlers bowled well, especially the debutant [Lionel] Baker did well under pressure.”While West Indies’ attack had problems at the death, Pakistan’s bowlers struggled to contain an explosive start from Gayle. “It’s tough to bowl when Gayle is on,” Aaqib Javed, Pakistan’s assistant coach, said. “But I think our batsmen were focused and did not give until the end and we now look for a 3-0 win.”Pakistan are still waiting on the fitness of Shoaib Akhtar who missed the first match due to a calf muscle injury. “He bowled seven overs in two spells on Thursday but it’s an internal injury and only Akhtar himself knows how he is feeling,” Aaqib said. They will wait until the morning of the second ODI, on Friday, before deciding on Shoaib’s match-readiness.

Karnataka’s lower order took full toll of a supremely benign Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch to post in excess of 500; their first 400-plus total of the season

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga at the Chinnaswamy Stadium13-Dec-2008Uttar Pradesh 44 for 1 (Tanmay 29*, Raina 11*, Aiyappa 1-3) trail Karnataka 511 (Akhil 135, Uthappa 65, Joshi 64, Raghu 64, Raina 2-7) by 467 runs
Scorecard
Karnataka’s lower order took full toll of a supremely benign Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch to post in excess of 500; their first 400-plus total of the season. B Akhil scored his maiden first-class century, Sunil Joshi his third half-century in as many matches, and they gave their top order a lesson in not throwing away good starts. UP bowlers toiled for 168.5 overs – at times without inspiration, the second time they have been made to bowl 150 overs in an innings in the last three years, both occasions coming this season. In reply they limped through their 17 overs to 44 for 1, and if they are to overhaul Karnataka’s total, they will need to cross 500 for the first time this season.Akhil had not been a part of the Karnataka squad for the first two matches, in which they scored two points. His comeback to the side – on the back of a stupendous first-division season – was considered a big gamble (in his previous 44 matches, his best had been 80). On today’s evidence, the gamble seems to be paying off. He had been in for more than an hour by stumps yesterday, having made a patient start for 22. He would have known that on this pitch 500 would be the par score. Joshi had just joined him, with the sixth wicket falling five overs before stumps. The two made a tentative start on the second day: Joshi edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar wide of second slip in the second over of the day, and in the next over Akhil edged RP Singh to just short of Mohammad Kaif at first slip. Both those exchanges fetched Karnataka boundaries and that was the closest UP got to taking a wicket for the next 40 overs.Akhil got the partnership going with a square cut and a leg glance off Bhuvneshwar’s successive overs to see him out of the attack. A powerful square cut off RP, played later than an orthodox one so that he could beat the cover-point, took him to within one of 50, which he got with a dab to mid-on later in the over.UP were frustrated by then, and went on to their version of leg theory. They had the medium-pacers bowling into the batsmen’s pads with a 6-3 leg-side field. Two of the on-side fielders were mid-range short leg and midwicket. Akhil once managed to thread that gap to increase the frustration, and later cover-drove a wide half-volley to bring an end to the plan.When the spinners were brought on, Joshi got into the act, employing the sweep and the cover drive to good use. One slog-sweep off Piyush Chawla just managed to clear the mid-off, but apart from that his innings was risk-free. His half-century added gloss to what has already been a good season. He has now scored 226 runs and taken 20 wickets in five matches. Kaif brought himself on for a few overs before lunch without effect. If things weren’t bad enough for UP, Akhil reverse-lapped Praveen Gupta with ease five minutes before lunch.Just after lunch, though, a bowling change finally worked for UP as Suresh Raina beat Joshi with a straighter delivery from round the stumps. Joshi had scored 64 by then, and with Akhil he had added 135 runs. Akhil continued to get similar support from the new man, Sunil Raju.Soon UP went back to the defensive, bowling outside leg with strong leg-side fields. The only period of contest during the eighth-wicket partnership came when Praveen Kumar gave Raju some short-pitch stuff, and a few verbals. Thilak Naidu shouted from the dressing room advising Raju to not listen to Praveen while the crowd (50 people) got into action every time a bouncer was bowled and Raju survived that play.Akhil slog-swept Gupta over midwicket to reach his century in what was a chanceless innings featuring shots all around the ground. The pitch didn’t ask many questions of him, and he didn’t get himself into any trouble either. The partnership between Akhil and Raju continued to bloom, but as it approached 100 Raju was beaten by Chawla and caught in front. The next bowling change worked for UP: in the next over Raina found Akhil to be a bit complacent, and got an edge to an attempted cut. He missed 150 by 15 runs, and Karnataka were still 28 short of 500.Some more frustration awaited UP, though, as R Vinay Kumar and NC Aiyappa hit their way to a 39-run partnership. They hit three boundaries each before the second new ball claimed Aiyappa.While Tanmay Srivastava made a positive start to the innings, picking Vinay Kumar off his legs for a first-ball four, Shivakant Shukla’s horror match continued. He had dropped two catches yesterday, and took ages to get going with the bat today. After he took 26 balls to get off the mark, he faced four more balls before top-edging a hook to give Aiyappa an easy return catch for his 100th first-class wicket. Raina, the new man, was troubled in the beginning by Raju’s offbreaks, and survived a stumping when the third-umpire ruled in his favour while his foot was on the line. He was on 3 then, and hit two beautiful boundaries, one to the last ball of the day.

Aston Villa confirmed on Thursday lunchtime that they have sold out tickets for their first two home fixtures.

And, as to be expected, their update had a lot of Villa fans talking on social media.

Dean Smith’s side return to Villa Park on Saturday, looking to bounce back from an opening weekend defeat to Watford.

They’ll be taking on Newcastle United, who also lost their first league fixture of the new campaign.

Villa are again at home the following weekend against newly-promoted Brentford, and home tickets for the two Premier League fixtures have sold out.

It’ll be the first time Villa Park has been full since February 2020, with the club’s last packed-out home game before the pandemic coming against Tottenham.

Villa fans react

The club shared the news regarding back-to-back sell outs on their official Twitter page.

This is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply, with one labelling it as ‘awesome’.

“We are MASSIVE”Credit: @davidmooney26″wow heroes”Credit: @AVFCHarry_”Wow my club doing bits!”Credit: @Raheil_m94″Awesome!”Credit: @footballlover63″FULL HOUSE VILLA PARK!!! INJECT THAT INTO MY SOUL”Credit: @LilleyCashAVFC”Best fans ever”Credit: @Lol061220

In other news: ‘Bad move’, ‘Nooo’ – Many AVFC fans fume as ’embarrassing’ news is confirmed. 

Tom Moody, the former Australia batsman and Sri Lanka coach, has refused to rule himself out to become the new England coach following the sacking of Peter Moores

Cricinfo staff09-Jan-2009
Tom Moody: England bound? © Getty Images
Tom Moody, the former Australia batsman and Sri Lanka coach, has refused to rule himself out as a contender in the hunt for a new England coach, following the sacking of Peter Moores.Moody was a candidate to replace Duncan Fletcher in 2007 before Moores was appointed, but at the time claimed he was never approached by the ECB. Now coach of Western Australia, as well as Kings XI Punjab, the Mohali franchise in the Indian Premier League, there were doubts he would be interested in uprooting his young family to come back to Britain. But his comments suggest that he could be open to the high-profile role of England coach.”Obviously a lot has gone on in English cricket over the last couple of days,” Moody said. “I’ve had no formal approach and until I do, I don’t need to really think or consider anything but concentrate on the Warriors.”You’d look at anything. This day and age, you’re not going to turn your back on any opportunity,[But] I’m very happy here in Perth, [the] family is settled, I’ve got a great job, enjoying what I’m doing. I’ve got no reason to be looking further afield.”Speaking to the separately, Moody did little to fully include or exclude himself from the race, though he reiterated how much he loved his last international assignment, as coach of Sri Lanka.”I haven’t given the England job any thought whatsoever because this news has really come out of the blue. The whole situation is a surprise.”Two years ago I was in a different position. I had finished with Sri Lanka and I was weighing up offers. There was speculation about the England job but I wasn’t approached and nothing ever came of it.”I’m reluctant to get involved in speculation now but we’ll just see how it all goes. Things are completely different for me now, but who knows what will happen.”I loved my time with Sri Lanka. It was a great experience and a terrific learning curve for me as a coach and manager. I completely enjoyed the opportunity.”Western Australia pay Moody approximately £100,000 per year, and he earns a further £115,000 coaching Mohali, but the ECB paid Fletcher closer to £500,000 and the board has the financial clout to seal the deal if negotiations go that far.Moores was sacked this week after a high-profile dispute with Kevin Pietersen, who tendered his resignation as England captain. England have yet to appoint a stand-in coach for the forthcoming tour of the Caribbean, though Cricinfo understands Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe batsman and deputy to Moores, is the frontrunner.

After picking up one point from a possible six from their opening two Premier League games of the new campaign, Crystal Palace head to Vicarage Road this evening to take on Watford in the Carabao Cup.

The Eagles were held to a goalless draw by newly-promoted Brentford last time out, a performance which offered a marked improvement on their opening-day defeat at the hands of Chelsea.

However, Patrick Vieira’s men have failed to score in their 180 minutes of top-flight action so far this season, something that will be a great concern for the new manager.

Vieira has openly admitted he’s looking to bolster his options in the final third of the pitch following the departures of Andros Townsend and Michy Batshuayi this summer, leading to several stars being linked with a move to the capital club.

But part of the solution could already be within south London. French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta arrived at Palace last January from Bundesliga outfit Mainz with a sizeable reputation following his impressive exploits at the MEWA Arena.

He bagged 27 goals and provided five assists in 71 appearances for Die Nullfünfer, earning several plaudits in the process.

“For a player with such impressive athletic potential, Jean-Philippe has a rare ability to get in behind opposition defences and beat players one-on-one,” summarised France U21 coach Sylvain Ripoll (as relayed by Bundesliga.com), who called Mateta up for the first time in October 2018. “And there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

The 24-year-old struggled to break into the starting XI under former Eagles boss Roy Hodgson, though, scoring just one goal in his seven outings during the final months of the experienced tactician’s reign.

Mateta would have been hoping for a fresh start under Vieira then, and his compatriot selected him in his first competitive starting lineup at Stamford Bridge just over a week ago.

Nevertheless, Mateta lasted just 57 minutes before being substituted and failed to come off the bench against Brentford, despite Palace struggling to create chances as they went in search of a winning goal.

Therefore, Vieira must unleash the £11.7m-rated gem in this evening’s cup encounter. Away from the spotlight of the Premier League, the pacey frontman could thrive and showcase his potential to be the striker Palace have craved over the last few years.

Adding a proven goalscorer to the club’s ranks is a priority for Vieira, but if he entrusts Mateta tonight, then he may discover one already at his disposal and if the striker can grab a goal, it will do his confidence the world of good.

And, in other news…David Ornstein drops exciting Palace transfer update that’ll leave fans delighted

England left the subcontinent shortly before Christmas, but it might be worth reminding a few of the batsmen of that fact, after they endured an unexpected trial by spin on the opening day at Sabina Park

Andrew McGlashan in Jamaica05-Feb-2009
Sulieman Benn: keeping England on a tight leash © Getty Images
England left the subcontinent shortly before Christmas, but it might be worth reminding a few of the batsmen of that fact, after they endured an unexpected trial by spin on the opening day at Sabina Park. The pitch itself could have been transplanted straight out of Bangalore or Chennai, which was the first marker of how the game in the Caribbean is now so different to what it once was.Sulieman Benn entered the action in the 15th over of the day and eventually bowed out in the 79th. He and Chris Gayle bowled unchanged for 24 overs either side of lunch and tea, completing 51 between them for the day. In years gone by spin was an afterthought for West Indies captains, something used to rest the fast men or speed up the over-rate, this was an extraordinary deviation from the norm. The changing nature of the pitches, from quick and bouncy to low and crumbling, has necessitated a change of ideas.However, while most who hark back to the glory days of West Indies recall the four quicks of the 80s, there was a generation before that where spin dominated in the form of Sonny Ramadin, Alf Valentine and, a little while later, Lance Gibbs. The 2009 versions will need more days like this to earn places among that exalted company, yet at times England played them as though faced with spitting cobras. They were crease-bound and virtually scoreless for long periods and the partnership between Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood registering 23 runs in 17 overs – all against spin.Benn was the one who really caught the eye, using his height and long fingers to good effect and extracting appreciable turn and bounce from the surface. The pitch isn’t rapid, but Benn still managed to put enough on the ball to beat, and take, the outside edge on regular occasions. He has developed since making his debut against Sri Lanka, in Guyana, last year when he appeared to be more of a roller than a spinner. Now he puts more into his action at the crease, staying tall and giving it a rip.”I’m hungry to take wickets, personally I’m proud of the spinners in the Caribbean,” Benn said. “There are some decent spinners around, there has been some talk about the lack of quality of spinners in the Caribbean and I want to prove the [those] people wrong. I’ve been playing cricket pretty much all of 2008, done a lot of bowling and am getting better, hopefully.”Indeed he is getting better, especially with his subtle variations. The arm-ball caused plenty of problems, beating both Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, and contributing to their lack of desire to get down the pitch. A boundary came off his third ball when he dropped short and was cut through point by Pietersen, but he didn’t concede his second until Pietersen drove him through the covers in his 23rd over.And Benn showed impressive nerve when Pietersen finally had a dip to race towards three figures. He was driven, swiped and swept before, next ball, firing it in fuller and Pietersen got a huge top-edge. A wicket to remember for Benn – “right up there” in his limited Test scalps, he said. “Obviously I was very satisfied with it, he had hit me for 14 in the previous three balls, so it was very satisfying,” he added. “When he was in the eighties I could see that he wanted to get to his hundred pretty quickly, it was just a matter of staying patient and staying in the zone.”As a spinner, you’ve got to bowl long spells, you can’t get away from it, especially if the pitch is that slow,” he said with weary satisfaction. “I’ve bowled some decent spells, but I reckon this is the best ever.”And the amount of spin didn’t half help with the over-rate, too. At the end of the first hour West Indies had bowled 12, but by mid-afternoon they were ahead of the required target. The ICC will be pleased. However, it was also to West Indies’ advantage that they kept the rate up as a stack of overs whizzed by and the score had barely moved.While that is less of a concern in Tests than one-dayers it still plays on the mind of naturally attacking batsmen who feel they should be scoring upwards of three-an-over most of the time. England went from the 22nd to the 50th over without hitting a boundary before Flintoff pulled Daren Powell through midwicket when Gayle eventually recalled his pacemen. Such is the fragile nature of this West Indies side, that as soon as England started to play positively their demeanour became less confident.That is why the removal of Pietersen was so crucial, if he had remained for the rest of the day he could have carried the momentum firmly away. Danger still lurks in the shape of Flintoff, who has played an impressively restrained innings, and the lower order, while some of the quick bowling in the final hour was wayward.”I think we are ahead at the moment,” Benn said. “Obviously we would have liked six or seven on first day but given the pitch, I think we bowled well and fielded well and we are pretty satisfied.”The key for West Indies is stringing together entire good days, not letting it slip after two good sessions. However, what they needed to do was back up talk of their improvement with a performance on the field. They have done that, in an unexpected way, now let’s hope it wasn’t a one-off.

Sheffield United have potentially been handed a boost in their bid to bring Amad Diallo to Bramall Lane this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Dutch media outlet AD, who claim that the Manchester United winger’s proposed season-long loan switch to Feyenoord has fallen through after the 19-year-old picked up an injury at the weekend.

Previous reports had claimed that Sheffield United were also in talks to sign the Ivory Coast international, with the Premier League side believed to be more than happy to sanction the temporary departure of the former Atalanta forward this summer.

His injury may prevent a move this summer but it would open up the possibility of the Blades signing him in the winter instead.

Fans would love him

While it is unclear exactly how long Diallo will be ruled out for as a result of his injury, the fact that the winger’s move to Feyenoord now appears to be dead in the water is undoubtedly a huge boost for Slavisa Jokanovic’s side – as there would appear to be a way for the Blades to make a deal for the 19-year-old work either now or in the future.

With the Eredivisie side’s technical director Frank Arnesen stating his belief that it would be better for Diallo to spend his recovery from injury at Manchester United, this would seem to open the door for a Sheffield United move, as the Championship club could propose to nevertheless sign the winger on a loan deal in the current transfer window, but only bring the youngster to Bramall Lane upon his return to fitness.

And, considering just how short Jokanovic currently is in the wide attacking positions of his squad, in addition to the £16.2m-rated man’s undoubted ability, signing Diallo now and waiting for his arrival at the club would seem to be a better option than bringing no one in at all.

Indeed, while first-team opportunities have been scarce at United so far, the £25k-per-week 19-year-old nevertheless proved over his 46 appearances for the Atalanta Primavera side that he is an extremely exciting prospect. He scored 13 goals and registered 15 assists for the youth team, in addition to scoring four goals and providing one assist over his three appearances for the United U23 side.

With Jokanovic’s side having scored a league-low one goal over their opening five Championship fixtures of the campaign, the Blades are desperately lacking in both creativity and a clinical edge in front of goal so far this season.

Thus, the addition of the player Daniel James dubbed an “unbelievable” talent would undoubtedly be a signing both fans and the 53-year-old manager would love to get over the line prior to Tuesday’s transfer deadline, regardless of his injury.

In other news: Key club figure drops update on “outstanding” SUFC target, Jokanovic will be buzzing

Charlton are starting to build some momentum after a stunning 6-1 win over Crawley in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.

Nigel Adkins’ side lost four of their first five competitive fixtures and picked up one point from those games, a 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day, in a dreadful opening few weeks of the 2021/22 campaign.

They managed to turn things around last weekend with a 2-0 win over Crewe Alexandra, before dishing out a 6-1 hammering to Crawley on Tuesday. Josh Davison scored twice, with Corey Taylor, Elliot Lee and Mason Burstow also scoring, along with an own goal from Crawley’s George Francomb.

There are always positives and negatives that can be taken from games and the latter for this match came in the form of Charlie Baker’s display at right-back.

The teenager full-back was handed an opportunity by Adkins to show that he can come in and perform to a high standard, potentially with the view to him getting more chances in League One this season. However, he was unable to do that as he struggled on the pitch despite the 6-1 win.

Baker was handed a SofaScore rating of 6.6 for his display, whilst eight of the other starters achieved scores of 7.1 or higher. Per SofaScore, the 18-year-old gave away possession of the ball 20 times from 60 touches, which means that he gave Crawley the ball once in every three touches. With a pass success rate of 66%, this suggests that he was unable to offer a reliable option in possession as he consistently failed to find a teammate with his passes and loose touches.

Only three of his seven attempted long passes and crosses came off and he registered zero shots on target or chances created. This means that he was not able to offer a consistent attacking threat down the right flank to support his teammates.

Defensively, the full-back also failed to impress. Per SofaScore, he did not complete a single tackle in the 90 minutes he played, whilst making two interceptions, two clearances and zero blocks. He also lost 60% of his defensive duels, losing five of his eight aerial battles and one of his two ground duels.

He let himself down as he was off the pace at both ends of the pitch. Hopefully, however, he will be given a chance to make up for this howler of a performance in the next round of the competition and show that this display was a one-off.

Cricinfo previews the third ODI between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran02-Feb-2009Match factsTuesday, February 3, 2009
Start time 14:30 local, (09:00 GMT)
Sri Lanka need Tillakaratne Dilshan to fire at the top of the order © AFP
The Big PictureIndia took 23 years to secure their first bilateral one-day series win in Sri Lanka, finally accomplishing the feat last August. Less than six months on, the Indian juggernaut stands on the brink of a reprise. Besides clinching the series, a victory at the Premadasa on Tuesday will also equal India’s longest winning sequence in one-dayers – eight. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has already warned against complacency, and also said that though India negotiated the threat of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan well in the first two games, the pair posed a formidable challenge.Apart from overcoming a slick Indian outfit, Sri Lanka will have to beat history: in 84 five-match series, only twice has a side come back from 2-0 down (South Africa against Pakistan in 2003, and Bangladesh over Zimbabwe in 2005). They will be buoyed by the return to form of Mahela Jayawardene, who ended a lean patch with a battling half-century. The other factors in their favour are that the bowlers are doing an adequate job, and Thilina Kandamby is proving to be a reassuring presence in the middle order. If the move to push Tillakaratne Dilshan up the order pays off as it did in the recent Pakistan series, Sri Lanka will still fancy their chances.ODI form guide (most recent first)Sri Lanka LLWWL
India WWWWWWatch out for …After a stop-start career, Suresh Raina is making the most of his second coming. He has managed to keep his place in the middle order despite a clutch of talented youngsters pushing for a place. Besides his batting, he has been an electric presence in the field, and also chipped in with a few tidy overs of offspin.One of the bright spots for Sri Lanka has been the form of Thilina Kandamby, who was recalled after a four-year gap. He has propped up their fragile middle order, and nearly engineered a victory in Saturday’s match with an unflustered 93.TeamsA groin injury has forced Munaf Patel out of the series, and L Balaji has been called in as a replacement. However, it is unlikely he’ll play, as India did well to contain the Sri Lankan batsmen in the second ODI with four frontline bowlers and the combination of Yusuf Pathan, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, who bowled 14 overs among them.India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Zaheer Khan, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Ishant Sharma.Thilan Thushara has had two disappointing games, conceding 103 runs in 16 overs for one wicket. However, he played a critical role in bowling out Pakistan in the series decider in Lahore. Though he is under scrutiny, he is likely to retain his place.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Thilan Thushara, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Nuwan Kulasekara, 11 Ajantha Mendis.Stats & TriviaChamara Kapugedera hasn’t made a half-century in his previous 18 innings.The opening partnership has failed to deliver for Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya averaged 63.33 for the first wicket in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, but have managed just 15 runs for the opening stand in this series. Dhoni has won seven of his last eight tosses in one-dayers against Sri Lanka.Pitch and conditionsThe third ODI will be played on a different track, but it is expected to behave in a similar manner to the one used in the last match. A score of 260 should be reachable, but fast bowlers may get some assistance for the first few overs under lights.Quotes”We have to be a bit more consistent with our all-round game. That’s one area we have to focus on, especially when you are playing against a good team. You can’t keep making mistakes.”

“We know we have a lot of work to do but the momentum is with us at the moment. We just have to focus on what we have been doing and give us the best chance of winning the next match.”
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Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lanka bowling allrounder, has been ruled out of the two-Test series in Pakistan with a groin injury

Cricinfo staff22-Feb-2009
Farveez Maharoof has been advised rest after suffering a groin injury © AFP
Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lanka bowling allrounder, has been ruled out of the two-Test series in Pakistan with a groin injury. Maharoof, who had been overlooked for the first Test currently in progress in Karachi, will fly home and in his place the selectors have called up Nuwan Kulasekara.Maharoof sustained the injury during a practice session before the first Test at Karachi’s National Stadium. “Maharoof is suffering from a groin injury and the doctors have advised him to rest,” a team official told .Sri Lanka’s coach Trevor Bayliss said Kulasekara would join the team before the second Test in Lahore starting March 1.Maharoof, 24, has represented Sri Lanka in 20 Tests and 91 ODIs since his debut in April 2004. After the Test series in Pakistan, Sri Lanka are scheduled to play five ODIs against Zimbabwe in March and then the World Twenty20 in June.Maharoof, however, is contracted to the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. The second season of the Indian Twenty20 league runs from April 10 to May 24.