Injured Shanaka out of the World Cup, Karunaratne approved as replacement

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka have suffered a major blow after skipper Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the remainder of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup due to injury.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has approved Chamika Karunaratne as a replacement for Dasun Shanaka in the Sri Lankan squad, here on Saturday.

Karunaratne who has played 23 ODIs, was named as a replacement after Shanaka was ruled out due to a right thigh muscle injury sustained during Sri Lanka’s match against Pakistan on October 10. The injury needs three weeks to recover.

Karunaratne is already in India and has been travelling with the team as their reserve player and could come into contention to play Sri Lanka's next match against Australia in Lucknow on Monday.

The 27-year-old hasn't played for Sri Lanka since he appeared in a T20I against New Zealand at the start of April but has made more than 60 appearances for his country in all three formats.

In-form batter Kusal Mendis is the vice-captain of Sri Lanka's squad and is expected to step up and take the captaincy reins in the absence of Shanaka.

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.