The 29-year old pacer, who missed the last two Tests of the recently-concluded three-match series against Australia, was set to play in the first ODI. However, the injury aggravated minutes before the toss and he was left out of the Playing XI.
Sri Lanka had gone in with six spinners, apart from two medium pacers - Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews - in the first ODI in Colombo, which they lost by three wickets.
Pradeep was one of the only two specialist pacers in the Sri Lankan squad, after injury had ruled out Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera and Dhammika Prasad. With Sri Lanka opting to add another batsman to the squad, Suranga Lakmal remains the only specialist fast bowler in the side for the second ODI.
The second ODI is set to be played on Wednesday (August 24) at the R. Premadasa Stadium. With the ball turning square in the first match, it is unlikely that the hosts will look to field a specialist pacer in their bid to draw level in the series.
Perera was originally called in as a cover for the injured duo of Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis, who had suffered injuries to ribs and fingers respectively, in the opening match of the series. However, both of them have been declared fit for the second ODI.
Perera's inclusion in the national squad came at the back of some fine performances for Sri Lanka A during the England tour. He had scored 169 runs at an average of 56.33 in four matches. He has also been a consistent performer over the last one year across formats in the domestic circuit.
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