Dealing a big jolt to Sri Lanka’s floundering campaign in the World Cup, their captain Dasun Shanaka on Saturday was ruled out of the mega event with a right thigh muscle injury.
Shanaka suffered the injury during their match against Pakistan on October 10, and he would take at least three weeks to recover, forcing the Lankans to seek a replacement, the ICC stated in a release.
The ICC Event Technical Committee has approved Chamika Karunaratne as Shanaka’s replacement.
Sri Lanka have lost their opening two matches in the tournament to South Africa and Pakistan.
The 32-year-old Shanaka had made a 62-ball 68 against South Africa in New Delhi when they chased an imposing 429.
Karunaratne is a middle-order batter and right-arm medium pacer who has played 23 ODIs for the Islanders.
The 27-year-old has taken 24 wickets from 23 matches and has scored 443 runs with a fifty.