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A knee injury has forced spin great Muttiah Muralitharan out of Sri Lanka's side for the first cricket test against Pakistan starting at Galle on Saturday.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara said Friday that uncapped offspinner Suraj Kaluhalmulla and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath had been brought into the squad as potential replacements.

Sangakkara said Muralitharan felt discomfort in his knee during practice, but bowled on for a further 40 minutes.

"We took a precautionary scan...we were pretty confident that he was going to make it but the scan report said there was a slight tear, so the risk of his tarring his tendon in the first test match is very high," Sangakkara said.

"So I don't think we want to risk him getting injured and being out for a long period for the sake of one test match."

Sangakkara said the reduced bowling attack was still capable of beating Pakistan.

"Inexperienced? Yes. Great opportunity? Yes. And do they have the ability? Yes," Sangakkara said.

"It's going to exciting to see what they can offer us and also when you are desperate to play test cricket and get an opportunity like this you can see best of players."

The 24-year-old Kaluhalmulla who has just converted to Buddhism from Islam after being known as Suraj Mohamed, has taken 180 wickets in 50 matches during his first-class career.

Herath, 31, has long been on the fringes of the national team, playing 14 tests over 10 years with 36 wickets.

The test comes four months after a deadly terror attack on Sri Lanka's team in Pakistan. The terrorist ambush outside Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore killed six police officers and a driver and wounded seven Sri Lanka players. The team bus and security convoy was approaching the ground for the third day's play of the second test when more than a dozen men attacked.

The visiting team return to Colombo immediately and the tour was abandoned.

Sri Lanka batsman Thilan Samaraweera's rare feat of scoring consecutive double-hundreds was a highlight of the series along with Younis Khan's triple-hundred for Pakistan in the first test.

Samaraweera had a bullet lodged in his thigh in the attack, raising concern for his cricket future. But the bullet missed important tissues and ligaments in the leg, allowing him to make a comeback.

"He has made a good return to cricket," Sangakkara said of Samaraweera. "He has played in some practice matches. We are enthusiastically looking forward to see him play in the first test."

Opening batsman Tharanga Paranavitana, who sustained a chest wound in the attack, will also play his first international match since the attack. Of the other wounded players, Ajantha Mendis and Sangakkara had already played in the recent Twenty20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League.

Sri Lankan authorities are providing the two teams with security equal to that of a head of state, including restrictions on fans, who are banned from consuming alcohol or lighting firecrackers inside the venue at Galle.

Musical instruments are also banned, although there will be music at the ground, in keeping with cricket tradition in Sri Lanka.

The two sides have played 34 tests, with Pakistan winning 15 and losing seven. Pakistan has only lost one test in Sri Lanka, winning six and drawing five.