Sri Lanka Cricket’s medical panel head, Arjuna de Silva, gave an update on Wanindu Hasaranga’s injury and said that the team management is currently consulting foreign doctors to check whether the players need surgery or not and it is likely that he will miss the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.
Hasaranga is still battling the hamstring injury he picked up during last month’s playoffs of the Lankan Premier League, and the 26-year-old sat out Sri Lanka’s recent Asia Cup campaign that saw them finish as runner-up.
While Sri Lanka knows that time is running out for Hasaranga to prove his fitness prior to their World Cup opener against South Africa in Delhi on October 7, the team are still exploring every avenue to allow the right-arm spinner to feature at the 50-over showcase. “We are consulting foreign doctors to see whether he needs surgery or not. If he does, he will be out for at least three months. At the moment, the situation is not that great, and it’s highly unlikely that he can play in the World Cup,” Sri Lankan medical panel head Arjuna de Silva told The Sunday Times newspaper in Sri Lanka, as quoted by the ICC.
“Since he is a key weapon in our attack, we are looking at other options to see how best we can get his services, at least for important games. All that depends on the opinions of the consultant to whom we are trying to show his reports,” he added.
If Hasaranga was to miss the entire World Cup, then the team’s bowling stocks would be severely depleted given his capabilities of performing well on the big stage.
