Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep is ruled out of world cup after suffering from chick pox. This is a huge blow for Sri Lanka, who is clinging on to their hopes of making it to semi finals.
The team had managed six points from seven games in the ongoing world cup. However, their loss to South Africa on Friday completely complicated their world cup hopes. Sri Lanka will now depend on other results to qualify for the knock out games.
On the other hand, the team should also win their remaining two matches to stay in contention. Nuwan Pradeep is an important player in Sri Lankan bowling unit. The loss of Pradeep will definitely be a big blow for Sri Lanka with two group matches still remaining.
Seamer Kasun Rajitha is named as replacement for Pradeep for the reminder of the tournament. Meanwhile, Nuwan Pradeep took five wickets in the ongoing world cup. However, he played only three matches in the event.
“Fast bowler Pradeep has been infected with chickenpox, which has ruled him out of further participation in the event,” the International Cricket Council said in a statement.
Sri Lanka need to win their last two matches against India, West Indies to stay in contention.
The 1996 champions had a mixed world cup so far. They are only team to have two games which were abandoned. Due to this, they got two points from the games but this effected the number of wins, which is the primary factor in case of a tie in points.
After the loss to South Africa, their fate is no longer in their own hands. Pakistan, Bangladesh are on seven points with two games left. On the other hand, England earned eight points so far with two games remaining.
In case, if Sri Lanka manages to win against both West Indies and India in their final two matches, they will need to rely on other results as well. Although, the expectations were low on the team this summer, the team proved they have potential in some of the matches.
Sri Lanka play West Indies in Chester-le-Street on Monday and India in Leeds on July 6. It is going to be an exciting finish to the tournament if the fourth place race goes down the wire. At the moment, England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are all in with a chance to qualify for semi finals.
