Cricket World Cup: SL pacer Matheesha Pathirana doubtful for rest of tournament, opener Kusal Perera likely to miss Netherlands tie

Pathirana has niggle in his right shoulder, while Perera is yet to recover from the concussion blow.

Matheesha Pathirana is doubtful for rest of tournament while opener Kusal Perera is likely to miss Netherlands. (AP)

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Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana is likely to be ruled out from the ODI World Cup due to a shoulder injury. The 20-year-old didn’t feature in Sri Lanka’s last match against Australia and is unlikely to play against the Netherlands on Saturday.

The Indian Express understands that Pathirana has complained about pain in his right shoulder after Pakistan’s match in Hyderabad. He has been taking scans and has been assessed by the team physio for the past week but his condition has not improved. Pathirana has played two matches in the tournament so far and has picked up only two wickets at almost ten runs per over.

The Sri Lanka Cricket on Thursday added former captain Angelo Matthews and Dushmantha Chameera as travelling reserves and the duo will join the team on Friday morning.

Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera will join the team in India as traveling reserves.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Selectors took this decision in order to ensure that the team has ready replacements in place to face contingencies, such as… pic.twitter.com/k6g3hm7vBA

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) October 19, 2023

“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to announce that Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera will join the team in India as travelling reserves. The Sri Lanka Cricket Selectors took this decision in order to ensure that the team has ready replacements in place to face contingencies, such as an injury to an existing squad member,” Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.

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Matthews is most likely to play against the Netherlands. Chameera, who was not part of the 15-member squad due to a pectoral injury, has now been declared fully fit.

Opener Kusal Perera, who scored a belligerent 78 against Australia, is also doubtful for Saturday’s game as he is still not 100 percent fit after he was hit on the helmet by Marcus Stoinis.

Sri Lanka had already lost their skipper Dasun Shanaka to a thigh injury as he has been sidelined for at least three weeks. All-rounder Chamika Karunaratne has replaced Shanaka. Sri Lanka are also without leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury.

Sri Lanka have lost all three of their games in the tournament and it is highly unlikely that they will get an easy pass from the Netherlands, who are high on confidence after defeating South Africa by 38 runs in Dharamsala.

Pratyush Raj

Pratyush Raj is a sports journalist with The Indian Express Group and specializes in breaking news stories and conducting in-depth investigative reports for the paper. His passion extends to crafting engaging content for the newspaper's website. Pratyush takes a keen interest in writing on cricket and hockey. He started his career with the financial daily Business Standard but soon followed his true calling as Times of India's sports reporter for Punjab in Chandigarh, a job that required extensive travel to states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. He has also contributed to the sports coverage of India Today Group. Pratyush's love for sports blossomed during his upbringing in flood-prone Saharsa, a district in North Bihar, where 'Cricket Samrat' was his cherished companion. ... Read More