An unfortunate news has hit the struggling Sri Lanka team as the captain Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 with a thigh injury. The 32-year-old sustained the injury in Tuesday’s six-wicket loss to Pakistan and it is expected that he will need three weeks to recover from this injury.
In Shanaka’s absense, Chamika Karunaratne has been approved as the replacement in the squad. Karunaratne has played 23 ODIs for Sri Lanka and is a versatile all-rounder who can bat at the lower order and bowl medium-fast.
Sri Lanka are currently seventh in the World Cup standings after losing their first two games against South Africa and Pakistan. They will be without their captain Dasun Shanaka when they play Australia on Monday in Lucknow which is going to be a crucial match for both winless teams.
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Shanaka’s absence is a major blow to Sri Lanka, who are already struggling in the tournament. He is the team’s most experienced player and one of their most important batsmen. He has also been in good form in recent months, scoring an impressive half-century in against South Africa at Delhi in Cricket World Cup 2023.
It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka cope without Shanaka. Karunaratne is a capable replacement, but he does not have the same experience or leadership skills as Shanaka. Sri Lanka will need to find a way to rally around Karunaratne and put in a much-improved performance against Australia on Monday if they want to keep their hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals alive.
