Kusal Mendis to lead Sri Lanka at World Cup

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka is out of the Cricket World Cup because of a thigh injury and has been replaced in the squad by Chamika Karunaratne.

Shanaka sustained the injury during Sri Lanka’s six-wicket loss against Pakistan.

The ICC said that Shanaka’s injury “needs three weeks to recover” and that the technical committee approved Karunaratne, also an all-rounder, as his replacement.

In the absence of Shanaka, vice captain Kusal Mendis will lead the side.

He led Sri Lanka in one of the two warm-up games when Shanaka was rested.

Karunaratne, who has played 23 ODI games, is already with the Sri Lanka squad in India as a traveling reserve and will be available for selection in Sri Lanka’s next game against Australia on Monday.

Sri Lanka also lost its opener against South Africa by 102 runs.