Due to a setback involving Shaminda Eranga (sprained ankle), the Sri Lanka team has had its initial preparations for the Thursday's match against Australia put into turmoil.

Eranga had been warming up for a Sri Lanka practice session when he obtained the injury. The Sri Lankans have their fingers crossed that Eranga's fitness will be good enough to go before the toss.

Although he had several minutes on the playing field to regain his composure, the player needed to make it into the dressing room with the aid of physiotherapist Steve Mount.

Sri Lanka will also be without the services of Prasanna Jayawardene (thumb) and Nuwan Kulasekara (rib) from the game. Ironically enough, both of the team members are attempting to recover from hairline fractures to their respective injuries. In addition, Chanaka Welegedara is also out of the series with a hamstring tear.

"You don't anticipate three or four guys going down in one Test match. But it happened, so we just need to sit down and see what other options we've got. We've got two guys flown in, and we're back to having a full 16 in the squad now. These are unexpected things we need to get our head around and handle the situation in the best possible way," Jayawardene told ESPN.

Interesting to note, Eranga is Sri Lanka's fifth player and third fast bowler to go down with an injury on the tour. This could be a real issue for the squad as all three bowlers who played in the Hobart Test could still be unusable come game time. However, Suranga Lakmal was one of the players flown in and could serve to lessen the blow.

CLICK HERE to watch Sri Lanka face off against Australia via free live stream. Coverage of the 3rd Test is set to begin at 5:00 a.m. IST on Thursday, Jan. 3.

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