Waqar's injury follows that of his new ball partner and captain Wasim Akram, who on arrival on Monday, announced the chances of him playing in the first Test starting at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Saturday were rather remote because he needed to rest his injured bowling arm.
Waqar's injury came to light only yesterday morning when he found that he could hardly put his left foot down in the hotel room. On Wednesday, he had bowled 11.3 overs and taken 3 for 30 in the two-day match against the Sri Lanka Board XI without showing much signs of discomfort.
X'rays revealed a fracture on the top of his left toe and he has been medically advised to rest the injury for at least three weeks.
Waqar is expected to leave for Pakistan in a day or two and then travel to England to fulfil his contract with English county Glamorgan for whom he is playing for the first time. Waqar had earlier played two season for another English county Surrey.
The 25-year-old right-arm fast bowler is a vital cog in the Pakistani bowling line-up having taken 227 wickets (avg. 21.33) in 44 Tests.
``I am really disappointed that I am not able to play in Sri Lanka. I like the country and I love to play here. They like me a lot over here and I am sorry to disappoint my fans,'' said a sad faced Waqar with a strapped leg at Police Park.
``It is just plain bad luck that it had to happen to me at this stage. This is the first time in my career I have suffered an injury of this nature,'' said Waqar, who previously had a history of back injuries.
Pakistan have asked for another fast bowler Mohammad Akram as Waqar's replacement. But it is unlikely that he will arrive in time for the first Test. Thus Pakistan will have no option but to open the bowling with Shahid Nazir and Mohammad Zahid - two young fast bowlers who made impressive Test debuts.
While Pakistan were going through injury problems, Sri Lanka also had a fare share of it when opening bat Roshan Mahanama suffered a chipped left toe at practice.
The right-handed opener was hit on the toe while trying to negotiate a inswinging yorker from Sajeeva de Silva.
The toe is swollen which has left Mahanama unable to put his boot on. The Sri Lankan team management have left their options open until the morning of the Test on Saturday to give Mahanama time to recover.
If Mahanama fails a fitness Test, it is likely that NCC left-hander Russel Arnold be slotted into that position. Arnold hit a superb 140 for the Board XI in the two-day game against the Pakistanis at the Police Park and deserves recognition. To further his cause Arnold also picked up three wickets for seven runs in seven overs bowling his off-breaks.