Colombo Caps captain Kusal Mendis has been ruled out of the remaining matches of the ongoing Lanka Premier League 2026 (LPL 2026) due to a hamstring injury. This was a major blow for the Sri Lanka national cricket team as they are set to host India in an important Test series next month.
The injury to the Sri Lankan white-ball captain has come at the worst time. Mendis is one of Sri Lanka’s key players across all three formats of the game and with the two-match Test series against India starting on August 15, his fitness has now become a major concern for the team. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings co-owner Preity Zinta reacted to the students’ protest with a call for talks.
Kusal Mendis out of LPL ahead of India Test series
Kusal Mendis suffered a right hamstring injury during Colombo Caps’ six-wicket win over Kandy Royals in the ongoing Lanka Premier League 2026 (LPL 2026) at the SSC Ground in Colombo on July 19. He injured his right hamstring while trying to complete a run during an LPL 2026 match.
Following Colombo Caps’ dominant win over Kandy Royals, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that Kusal Mendis has been ruled out of the remainder of the LPL 2026 tournament and will now return to the National High Performance Center to begin his rehabilitation.
“Mendis suffered a right hamstring injury while attempting to run during Colombo Kandy Royals’ match against Kandy Royals at the SSC, Colombo on July 19. Accordingly, he will return to the National High Performance Center to commence his rehabilitation programme,” SLC said in an official media release.
Since Sri Lanka Cricket has not given any timeline for Mendis’s return, there is no clear answer on whether the white-ball captain will be fit in time for the Test series against India, where he is expected to play a key role with the bat as well as keep wickets.
Kusal Mendis’ great form in all formats
Well, Kusal Mendis was in great form. Mendis played a brilliant inning of 79 runs in just 53 balls during the first match of the LPL season for his team Colombo Caps. Before LPL 2026, Mendis also enjoyed a stellar season in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2026.
The star batsman scored 550 runs in 11 innings at an impressive strike rate of 168.19 and was one of the leading run scorers in PSL 2026. Additionally, Mendis scored 408 runs in 14 T20I matches at a strike rate of 130.35 and 211 runs at an average of 70.33 in only four ODIs this year.
Now, Sri Lanka will be hoping that their in-form batsman recovers as soon as possible as the India Test series is just a few weeks away, part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27. Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed’s debut for Kavya Maran’s team features the Krays avoiding a hat-trick.
InsuranceDekho, on the other hand, has forayed into cricket sponsorship for the first time by partnering with Team India for the upcoming tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. This is the company’s first big step in Indian cricket.
The company will be the co-presenting sponsor for the live telecast of India’s three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe. It has also become the title sponsor of India’s Test series against Sri Lanka, which will now be played under the name InsuranceDekho Cup.