Big Blow For Sri Lanka As Star Player Likely To Miss Entire Asia Cup, Wanindu Hasaranga Doubtful For Initial Matches

Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka players have plenty of injury and availability concerns before their tournament opener.

Sri Lanka are likely to have quite a few of their players unavailable for selection ahead of their Asia Cup opener.

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In what could be a huge blow to Sri Lanka ahead of their Asia Cup 2023 matches, the team could miss the services of Dushmantha Chameera for the entire tournament. That's not all, to make matters worse even star spinning all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga is unlikley to be available for the last year Asia Cup winners at least in the initial matches. This will be a whole new challenge for the Men from the Island nation as this year the tournament is set to be played in the ODI format unlike last year when the competition was played in the T20 format.

This is far from being an ideal situation for Sri Lanka who already have players like Kusal Perera and Avishka Fernando being diagnosed from COVID-19. They remain under observation and their inclusion in the squad will depend on their recovery. 

It is pertinent to note that it has been a difficult few months for Chameera who picked up an injury during the Lanka Premier League (LPL) soon after he returned from an ankle injury. His last appaerance in an ODI came on June 7 which was when he starred with the ball, picking 4 wickets for 63 runs against Afghanistan. However, he did not play a part in the ODI World Cup qualifier where he sistained an injury during the warm-ups.

Even though Chameera is all but ruled out of the showpiece continental tourmament, an official confirmation is awaited from the board. For now, it is the report carried by ESPNCricinfo that claims Chameera is likely to be ruled out of the Asia Cup. The report cites Sri Lanka team manager Mahinda Halangoda as the source.

An update on Hasaranga is that he missed the LPL final with a thigh strain. As per his management quoted in the same report, Hasaranga could miss Sri Lanka's matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Asia Cup. A call on whether he will take part in matches of Asia Cup if Sri Lanka qualify further will rely on his injury status and whether he will be able to play without the feat of an injury.