Injured Pathirana may return home

Matheesha Pathirana

Maheesh Theekshana

• Theekshana undergoes scan for troublesome hamstring

LUCKNOW: Sri Lanka’s young fiery pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana is likely to return home after failing a fitness test on his injured right shoulder.

Pathirana underwent the test prior to the commencement of Sri Lanka’s World Cup match against Netherlands on Saturday.

The 20-year-old with a Malinga-like square arm bowling action started complaining about his shoulder after the game against Pakistan and missed out on Sri Lanka’s next two matches against Australia and Netherlands. He was being monitored by the physios all the time but his condition doesn’t seem to have improved.

Sri Lanka has informed the Event Technical Committee of the ICC regarding Pathirana’s unavailability for the rest of the tournament, and if given the green light could call up one of three travelling reserves currently with the team – all-rounder Dushmantha Chameera, Angelo Mathews or Dasun Shanaka.

As Pathirana is a fast bowler it is likely that Chameera will be the likely replacement. However, a decision has to be taken by the team management what sort of combinations they want to go with for the rest of the World Cup.

Sri Lanka has a further five matches to play in the nine-match league. They recorded their first win of the tournament beating Netherlands by five wickets on Saturday.

In that game, Sri Lanka’s key spinner Maheesh Theekshana complained about pain in his right hamstring which he had recovered from. Due to his rehab Theekshana missed out on Sri Lanka’s first match against New Zealand, but played in the next three games against Pakistan, Australia and Netherlands.

Theekshana was uncomfortable when he bowled during the Netherlands match and was treated with ice constantly to lessen the pain. The injury it is learnt is slightly below the one he was recently treated for and Theekshana feels that he can manage with it.

However, the management does not want to take any chances with it and sent him for a scan on Sunday as soon as the team arrived in Bengaluru for their next match against England starting in four days on 26 October.

Theekshana has been a very effective bowler when he bowls in tandem with Hasaranga. In the absence of Sri Lanka’s star spinner, Theekshana who normally plays a containment role to Hasaranga has been suddenly pushed to play the role of a wicket-taker, a function he has struggled to fulfil capturing just two wickets while conceding 152 runs.  

Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign has been hit by injuries to key bowlers Wanindu Hasaranga, Chameera and Theekshana.

Theekshana returned to the side after missing Sri Lanka’s first match, and Chameera who has recovered from a shoulder injury sustained in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) missed out on the Asia Cup as well as the ongoing World Cup where he was not selected in the original 15 but later brought in as a travelling reserve by Sri Lanka Cricket after recovering from the injury. Hasaranga was ruled out of the Asia Cup as well as the World Cup. He recently underwent successful surgery for a hamstring muscle/tendon which he initially suffered during the LPL and subsequently aggravated it during the rehab process.