T20 World Cup 2022: Kasun Rajitha replaces injured Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka's squad

Pacer Kasun Rajitha has replaced Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup 2022 squad. Sri Lanka is currently playing the First-Round fixtures at the event, and has one more game scheduled ahead of the Super 12 stage. The reigning Asia Cup champions need to win the game in order to keep their Super 12 hopes alive, but injuries are giving them major setbacks.

Chameera, in Sri Lanka’s previous outing against the United Arab Emirates, was outstanding with the ball as he picked up three wickets during his spell, but had to walk out of the stadium after sustaining a calf injury. A day after Sri Lanka’s big win against the UAE, it was confirmed on Wednesday (October 19) that Dushmantha Chameera had been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

Kasun Rajitha, who has majorly represented Sri Lanka in red-ball cricket, has replaced the pacer. Notably, Rajitha last played a T20I match in October 2019 against Australia in Adelaide, which proved to be a horrendous outing for him as he went on to concede 75 runs in his four-over spell, picking up no wicket in return as Sri Lanka lost the game by 134 runs.

It is believed that Chameera might be out of the international setup for an extended period after the T20 World Cup 2022 given his injury concerns, that had kept him out of the team before the marquee event. He had missed out on the Asia Cup 2022, where the islanders emerged victorious and lifted the trophy after defeating Pakistan in the summit clash.

Earlier, skipper Dasun Shanaka had informed that Asitha Fernando and Matheesha Pathirana had been the frontrunners to join the Sri Lankan squad alongside Rajitha as Pramod Madushan and Danushka Gunathilaka had also been suffering with injuries, but the two are still a part of the squad. Madushan has been ruled out of Sri Lanka's upcoming fixture against the Netherlands.

Sri Lanka's updated squad for T20 World Cup 2022:

Dasun Shanaka (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Pramod Madushan. 

Standby Players: Ashen Bandara, Praveen Jayawickrema, Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwanidu Fernando.