Sri Lanka were dealt a heavy blow even before the start of the India series as star pacer Dushmantha Chameera was ruled out of the entire white-ball leg. Late on Wednesday night, three days before the series-opening T20I in Pallekele, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that Chameera is still recovering from bronchitis and respiratory infection that kept him out of action from the latter half of the Lanka Premier League.

"Dushmantha Chameera is still recovering from a bronchitis and respiratory infection he contracted, and hence will not be part of the T20I series," Sri Lanka Cricket tweeted.

Asitha Fernando was named Chameera's replacement in the Sri Lanka squad. That Chameera would not be a part of the composite six-match series (3 T20Is and 3 ODIs) was also "confirmed" earlier in the day by Sri Lanka's chief selector Upul Tharanga.

"Yesterday we got the reports, and it can be confirmed that he will miss the T20Is and ODIs against India," Tharanga said during a press briefing in which newly-appointed interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya was also present.

Asitha, 26, was the pick of the bowlers in the Lanka Premier League final, grabbing three wickets as the Jaffna Kings beat Galle Marvels.

The 32-year-old Chameera, who made his international debut for Sri Lanka in 2015 and bowls at a good pace, has been plagued with injuries throughout his career.

So far, he has played 12 Tests, 52 ODIs, and 55 T20 matches, taking 32, 56 and 55 wickets respectively.

Chameera didn't play the last few matches for Kandy Falcons in the recently-concluded Lanka Premier League (LPL).Among big events, Chameera missed the Asia Cup in 2022 and the subsequent T20 World Cup in Australia due to a calf injury.

He also missed the 2023 Asia Cup because of a shoulder injury and was initially not picked in the ODI World Cup squad last year. He was named as a replacement after fellow pacer Matheesha Pathirana got injured.

Earlier this year, he missed the home series against Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to a quadriceps injury.

He was part of the squad for the recently-held T20 World Cup in the Americas but didn't play any match.

The Sri Lanka series will mark newly-appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir's first assignment.

All three T20 matches will take place in Pallekele, with the opening contest scheduled for July 27 and the following games set for July 28 and July 30.

The subsequent three-match ODI series will be played in Colombo on August 2, 4 and 7.

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