Fast bowler Pathirana sustained a shoulder injury during the defeat to Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 10. The event technical committee of the men’s Cricket World Cup approved the replacement on Tuesday (October 24)
Former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews has replaced the injured Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka's Cricket World Cup squad.
Fast bowler Pathirana sustained a shoulder injury during the defeat to Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 10.
Prior to his injury, the 20-year-old right-arm quick had struggled in his two tournament outings, returning combined figures of 2 for 185 in 19 overs against South Africa and Pakistan.
Allrounder Mathews has featured in 221 ODIs, scoring 5,865 runs and claiming 120 wickets. However, his recent role for Sri Lanka has been primarily as a specialist batter in recent years, only bowling 20 overs in the format since 2017.
The 36-year-old was excluded from the squad for the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe due to a slump in form which also caused him to miss out on selection for the main tournament.
Pathirana has struggled during the World Cup, taking just two wickets across his two outings(Surjeet Yadav/Getty Images)
Mathews brings valuable experience to the squad, having played in the 2011, 2015, and 2019 Cricket World Cups, leading the team as captain in Australia. He was added to the party as a travelling reserve (alongside Dushmantha Chameera, who was not deemed fit for the initial squad) last week ahead of his recall on Tuesday (October 24).
In a statement confirming the swap, the ICC stated the event technical committee overseeing the competition had approved the replacement.
Sri Lanka are currently eighth in the table, having suffered three consecutive losses at the start of the competition before getting off the mark against Netherlands.
The 1996 champions have been plagued by injury in the lead-up and during the tournament having already lost the services of captain Dasun Shanaka, with Chamika Karunaratne enlisted as his replacement. They are already without superstar allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga due to a hamstring injury.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.