Angelo Mathews has been approved as a replacement for the injured Matheesha Pathirana in the Sri Lanka squad for the remainder of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023.The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 approved Mathews' inclusion in the squad as a replacement for Pathirana in the Sri Lanka squad, the ICC informed in a statement on Tuesday.
Mathews, who has played 221 ODIs, was named as a replacement after Pathirana failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained during a warm-up match and was subsequently ruled out of the tournament.
The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 consists of Wasim Khan (ICC General Manager – Cricket and ETC Chair), Chris Tetley (ICC Head of Events), Hemang Amin (Acting CEO - BCCI), Gaurav Saxena (General Manager – Operations, BCCI), Russel Arnold and Simon Doull (Independent Representatives).
This is the second time Sri Lanka has had to replace a player in the World Cup. Earlier, skipper Dasun Shanaka was ruled out of the event. Chamika Karunaratne was approved as a replacement for Shanaka in the Sri Lanka squad.