In a major blow, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out of the ongoing ODI Men’s World Cup 2023 in India due to a thigh injury.

Shanaka picked up a quad injury during Sri Lanka’s World Cup clash against Pakistan on Tuesday and scans have since revealed that the hard-hitting all-rounder will be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks.

Sri Lanka have opted to replace Shanaka in their squad with fellow all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne, who is already in India

“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has approved Chamika Karunaratne as a replacement for Dasun Shanaka in the Sri Lankan squad,” the ICC said in a statement.

“Karunaratne who has played 23 ODIs, was named as a replacement after Shanaka was ruled out due to a right thigh muscle injury sustained during Sri Lanka’s match against Pakistan on 10 October. The injury needs three weeks to recover,” it added.

Notably, 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 27-year-old Karunaratne has been travelling with the team as their reserve player and could come into contention to play Sri Lanka’s next match against Australia in Lucknow on Monday.

Karunaratne hasn’t played for Sri Lanka since he appeared in a T20I against New Zealand at the start of April, but has made more than 60 appearances for his country in all three formats.

In-form batter Kusal Mendis is the vice-captain of Sri Lanka’s squad and is expected to step up and take the captaincy reins in the absence of Shanaka.