ICC World Cup 2019: Nuwan Pradeep ruled out of Bangladesh match

Nuwan Pradeep, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has been ruled out of the national team’s match against Bangladesh on Tuesday at the County Ground in Bristol. He didn’t play the opening match against New Zealand at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old speedster bagged the Player of the Match award against Afghanistan courtesy of a four-wicket haul.

As far as the injury is concerned, on Sunday, he suffered a blow on his bowling hand during training. Subsequently, he was taken to the hospital where it was learned that he developed “a dislocation and a cut in his small finger on his bowling arm,” and “he will need a week’s time to recover from the injury.”

The pacer was bowling to the left-handed Kusal Perera in the nets when the batsman hit the leather towards Pradeep’s head. The bowler put his hand up in self-defense and copped a blow on his finger. His teammates rushed to him to inquire about his well-being and the seriousness about the injury.

Asantha De Mel, Sri Lanka’s team manager, updated about the development. “Nuwan was given treatment at the hospital, while the doctors reset his dislocated finger and the cut on his finger was closed with stitches. He was also administered with antibiotics,” De Mel was quoted as saying in an SLC release as per reports in ESPNcricinfo.

Pradeep’s replacement ready

Pradeep has been injury prone over quite a significant amount of time. He has had issues with his hamstring and the injury will come as a frustration to him as he is in a good rhythm. The Lankans already have a replacement ready in the 26-year-old Kasun Rajitha provided Pradeep gets ruled out of the mega event. If he doesn’t get to bowl anymore, it will be a massive blow for Sri Lanka.

The Lankans didn’t make the best of starts in the World Cup with a 10-wicket loss against the Blacks. Moreover, they also had to fight versus the Afghans but came out trumps by 34 runs (DLS Method) in a game marred by consistent rain. After Bangladesh, Lankans will face Australia on June 15 at the Oval.