Injured Shanaka be ruled out; Chamika comes in
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out for two to three weeks with a Grade II Quadricep injury in his right thigh. He has been replaced by bowling allrounder Chamika Karunaratne in the 15-man squad.
The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 approved Karunaratne as a replacement, after Shanaka was ruled out due to a right thigh muscle injury sustained during Sri Lanka’s match against Pakistan. The injury needs three weeks to recover.
The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before he can be officially added to the squad.
It is not known how and when Shanaka sustained the injury as he looked fine during their last game against Pakistan in Hyderabad and also players had two days off since arriving in Lucknow, the largest city in Uttar Pradesh.
However, team sources said that Shanaka had confessed to having played the last game against Pakistan with the pain. He has only notified the team management on Friday about the pain and was subsequent scan report has indicated a significant tear.
Even before Shanaka’s injury, his place in the side has been under scrutiny due to his contribution as a player and as captain of the side. Shanaka scored a half century, his first in 17 innings against South Africa, but the manner in which marshalled his inexperienced bowling attack during the second game against Pakistan was heavily criticised. Despite having the best economy rate in the match, Shanaka did not complete his full quota of overs as Pakistan chased down a record 344 to deny Sri Lanka its first win.
In Shanaka’s absence, Kusal Mendis will lead the side. Mendis, though has been in terrific form with the bat, missed the entire Pakistan’s run chase due to cramps.
Seamer Matheesha Pathirana is already unavailable with an inflammation in his bowling arm and is estimated to be out for at least 10 days. However, this does not warrant a replacement in the squad. Meanwhile, the selectors
have asked Sri Lanka Cricket to send Pramod Madushan in the next available flight to join the team as the travelling reserve.