LAHORE – Sri Lanka have suffered a major setback ahead of the tri-nation ODI series involving Pakistan and England, as opening batter Pathum Nissanka has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Lahiru Udara has been named as his replacement in the Sri Lankan squad.
According to report, Nissanka will miss the tri-nation ODI series, which is scheduled to take place in Pakistan and features Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England.
Nissanka sustained an injury to his left thigh muscle during Sri Lanka’s tour of England and has yet to make a full recovery. He was initially included in Sri Lanka’s 16-member squad for the tri-series subject to passing a fitness test. However, his failure to recover in time means he will be unavailable for the matches against Pakistan and England.
Following Nissanka’s withdrawal, Sri Lanka Cricket selected Lahiru Udara as his replacement. The 32-year-old will now represent Sri Lanka in the ODI series against Pakistan and England.
Udara has played five Test matches and seven T20 Internationals for Sri Lanka but is yet to make his debut in One-Day International cricket.
He has earned another opportunity in white-ball cricket following an impressive batting performance in the first T20 International against Pakistan. Udara scored 91 runs off 55 balls in the opening match, the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batter in the T20 series.
In July this year, Udara also produced an impressive innings of 188 runs in a Test match against the West Indies. However, he has struggled to maintain that form, failing to score more than 30 runs in his subsequent five Test innings.
Udara was not included in Sri Lanka’s squad for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan, making the tri-nation ODI tournament an important opportunity for him to establish himself at the international level.
In List A cricket, Udara has scored runs at an average of 32.09 and a strike rate of 85.97 across 97 innings.
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