The Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 has approved Angelo Mathews to replace Matheesha Pathirana in the Sri Lanka squad.
Angelo Mathews replaced injured Pathirana
Matheesha Pathirana sustained a shoulder injury during Sri Lanka’s against Pakistan and the young player was sidelined for the match against Australia and Netherlands.
On this occasion, Sri Lanka appealed for the replacement of Pathirana, and the ICC committee has approved allrounder Angelo Mathews for the squad on October 24 ahead of the match against England on Thursday.
Matthews has played 221 ODIs in his career so far and scored 5865 runs with an average of 41.01 with a strike rate of 83.09. He has bowled on 158 innings out of which he dismissed 120 wickets with a bowling figure of 6/20 as his career best.
The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 consists of Wasim Khan (ICC General Manager – Cricket and ETC Chair), Chris Tetley (ICC Head of Events), Hemang Amin (Acting CEO – BCCI), Gaurav Saxena (General Manager – Operations, BCCI), Russel Arnold and Simon Doull (Independent Representatives).
Sri Lanka has played four matches in the World Cup so far Sri Lanka has won only one match against the Netherlands. They lost the matches against South Africa, Pakistan, and Australia.
The Sri Lankan team management had participated in potential injuries as they recalled Mathews as a traveling reserve the previous week alongside pacer Dushmantha Chameera with Pathirana ruled out of the tournament Mathew’s experience and versatility are expected to bolster the Sri Lankan squad as they continue their World Cup journey.
Pathirana is the second injury loss for Sri Lanka in this World Cup after captain Dasun Shanaka was ruled out due to a quad tear injury during the match against Pakistan.
Chamika Karunaratne had taken Shanaka’s place in Sri Lanka’s squad, with the wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis as stand-in captain. They are also without legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga who was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury.
Before his injury, He was taken for as many as 185 runs in the 19 overs that he had bowled across matches against South Africa and Pakistan with an economy rate of almost 10.
Sri Lanka is looking for an upswing in form themselves having registered their first win of the World Cup when they beat the Netherlands by five wickets in Lucknow on Saturday, having lost three in a row till then. They are currently placed ninth on the points table.
Sri Lanka will play their next match against England on October 26 at M. Chinaswamy Stadium.
