SA Vs SL, ODI World Cup 2023: Maheesh Theekshana Ruled Out Sri Lanka’s Opener Against South Africa

New Delhi: Sri Lankan coach Chris Silverwood on Friday ruled out Maheesh Theekshana from their World Cup 2023 opener against South Africa as the spinner is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Theekshana had suffered the niggle during the Asia Cup Super 4 match against Pakistan at Colombo.
“Theekshana is still recovering from a hamstring injury, so he won’t be available for this game. But we expect him to be available very soon. The rest of them are fine,” said Silverwood ahead of Saturday’s match at Feroze Shah Kotla.

Silverwood, however, gave a go-ahead to wicketkeeper batter Kusal Mendis and captain Dasun Shanaka, who were carrying slight niggles. “As I said previously the two of them are ready to go,” said the Englishman.

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni had said that Matheesha Pathirana should not be even considered for ODIs, but Silverwood rated the pacer an exciting talent irrespective of the format.

“I’ve not read what MS has said and so it doesn’t bother me. But what I will say is somebody like Pathirana is a very exciting young talent and he’s got a lot to showcase in 50-over cricket, and it would be wrong to deprive him of that opportunity,” said Silverwood.

This will be their first international outing after Sri Lanka were blown away by India in the Asia Cup final. However, Silverwood said the team has put behind that debacle. “We know on our day we can go toe-to-toe with anybody. We’ll be going out there looking to win as always but we expect a very tough game tomorrow.

“I think although everybody talks about the final in the Asia Cup, we played some very good cricket together and we got there despite people not thinking we could, so actually we know we can play some good cricket,” he added.