Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal undergoes surgery on hand

Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal has had to undergo surgery after he was struck on the hand during a domestic game last week.The 26-year-old suffered "multiple dislocations around the right thumb area" after being struck in a Mercantile tournament outing, reported Espncricinfo.

Chandimal now has a little over four weeks to recover with the Lankan team management saying the wicket-keeper batsman will be ready to take on the Zimbabweans in October and November. Although the schedule for the tour has not yet been announced, the first Test is likely to kick-start from October 29.

The Sri Lankan vice-captain who was also the wicket-keeper in the recently concluded home series against Australia was a key contributor for his side. He scored a brilliant 132 in the first innings of the Colombo Test to help his side from 26/5 to eventually register a 163-run win to complete a 3-0 whitewash.

The right-hander has also been in rollicking form this year with 1451 runs from 36 matches across all forms. He has also begged four tons. He got to five back to back fifties between June and August this year but missed out on the opportunity to become the first Sri Lankan to notch six consecutive fifties as he got out for 48 in the second One-Day International against Australia.Chandimal also stood in as captain during a part of the ODI and T20I series against the Aussies, as Angelo Mathews was sidelined with a calf injury.

Over the years Chandimal has been one of the most consistent performers for Sri Lanka. He has been quite successful in all three formats though he averages a lot more in Tests. In Test matches Chandimal has already scored 2257 runs from 31 matches with a highest score of 162 not out.

In ODIs the batsman has amassed 3033 runs from 119 games at an average of 34.46. He also has 687 runs from 45 T20 Internationals.

Chandimal first made his debut for the Asian islanders in 2010 in a T20 game against New Zealand. Later that year he played in his first ODI. His Test debut however, came a year later when Sri Lanka took on South Africa in Durban.