Sri Lanka speedster Dilshan Madushanka has been ruled out of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 after sustaining a quadriceps tear ahead of his team’s opening match against Namibia.
Madushanka was spotted hobbling away from practice on Saturday and was then sent to get an MRI scan, which confirmed the injury. Notably, the left-arm pace bowler grabbed headlines with his spectacular international debut in the recent Asia Cup 2022.
Madushanka had impressed throughout the tournament, picking up six wickets at an economy rate of 7.75 in six matches. The Islanders have also announced Madushanka’s like-for-like replacement in the form of Binura Fernando, which has been approved by the ICC’s Event Technical Committee.
Binura has played nine T20Is and four ODIs for Sri Lanka, taking 10 and two wickets in the formats, respectively. Binura made his international debut for the Islanders back in 2015 in the first T20I against Pakistan in Colombo. His last game in the shortest format was the third match against India in Dharamsala in February earlier this year.
“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 has approved Binura Fernando as a replacement for left-arm fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka in the Sri Lanka squad,” said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in an official statement.
“Fernando, who has played nine T20Is, was named as a replacement after Madushanka was ruled out due to a torn quad muscle. Fernando will travel out from Sri Lanka and join the rest of the squad in Australia,” SLC added in their release.
