The Australian team management were forced to move to Colombo for scans due to lack of MRI equipment in Kandy to know the extent of the injury. With the second Test beginning on August 4, the visitors could have to rope in Adam Zampa or Jon Holland to strengthen their spin department.
O'Keefe's injury hurt them badly on Friday (July 28) as they had only one frontline spinner in Nathan Lyon, and were unable to stop Kusal Mendis, who rode his way to a brilliant maiden Test hundred, helping Sri Lanka stage a tremendous comeback.
"He proved he was the biggest threat to the right-handers. The injury to O'Keefe is a setback to Australia for sure," Mendis said after bad light forced umpires to take stumps early.
Nathan Lyon too conceded that losing O'Keefe to injury was a big loss. "I feel sorry for Steve, he's one of my good mates and to see him injure himself, I'm not sure where he's at, but to see him go off the field and for Australia to lose a vital member of our bowling attack is a pretty big loss for us." Lyon said.
The pitch at Galle, the venue for the next Test, is expected to be spin-friendly and should O'Keefe be ruled out, Australia will definitely need an able replacement to partner Lyon.
Legspinner Adam Zampa is currently playing the Caribbean Premier League, and his good form makes him a strong contender to replace the left-armer. Jon Holland, who bowls left-arm orthodox, is also on the list.
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