T20 World Cup 2022: Binura Fernando ruled out of the tournament
The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 has approved Asitha Fernando as a replacement for Binura Fernando in the Sri Lanka squad.
Asitha Fernando who has played three T20Is, was named as a replacement after Binura Fernando was ruled out due to a left hamstring injury that was sustained in Tuesday’s match against Australia in Perth. He will travel out from Sri Lanka and join the rest of the squad in Australia.
The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.
Sri Lanka suffering from injuries
Well, this is not the first injury replacement for Sri Lanka. The team from island nation is clearly struggling with the fitness of players. Perhaps, Binura was also a replacement player in the squad. Reportedly, they have also called up Matheesha Pathirana and Niroshan Dickwella into the camp to be ready if there are more injury concerns.
As for their campaign, Sri Lanka, led by Dasun Shanaka, recovered well after losing to Namibia in their opening game of the tournament. They qualified for Super 12 round with wins over UAE and the Netherlands and then started the main round with a comfortable win over Ireland. The team also fought well against Australia before Marcus Stoinis’ whirlwind innings blew Sri Lanka away.
However, Sri Lanka will be keen on making a comeback now. Their path is not easy to make it to the semi-final but given that the likes of Australia and England have dropped a game each unexpectedly, they would look to make sure they stay in the hunt with good wins. Sri Lanka are next scheduled to face New Zealand on October 29 at the Sydney Cricket Ground and will be hoping for their key players to stay fit.