World Cup 2023: Dasun Shanaka ruled out of tournament, Chamika Karunaratne named replacement

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI World Cup after picking a quadriceps tear in their match against Pakistan. Chamika Karunaratne has been named as a replacement in the squad.

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The recovery time for the injury is believed to be three weeks during which Sri Lanka would have played most of their round robin matches in India.

Karunaratne is a like-for-like replacement for Shanaka – a seam-bowling allrounder, who bats down the order. He has been with the travelling squad as a standby player and will be available for their next contest – against Australia on Monday.

ESPNCricinfo report Kusal Mendis will step in to lead Sri Lanka now that Shanaka is out of contention. Mendis had been the islanders’ vice-captain in the past few months and stepped in to the leadership role in a warm-up match preceding the World Cup. Shanaka will remain with the Sri Lanka squad in India “for the time being.”

Shanaka’s place in the team had been under pressure over the past few months. He passed the 35 run mark only once in his last 15 ODI innings, a stretch which also includes the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.

Despite his miserable run of form, Sri Lanka have done well. They won the World Cup Qualifier tournament and reached the final of Asia Cup, which was mostly played at home.

At the World Cup, Sri Lanka have had a dreadful start losing to South Africa and Pakistan. They have conceded a massive 775 runs in the two matches.