Sri Lanka received a big boost ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 fixture against Pakistan, scheduled on Tuesday as Maheesh Theekshana is likely to return to the side after recovering from an injury.
Maheesh Theekshana got selected in Sri Lanka’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad despite suffering from a hamstring injury in the Asia Cup 2023.
He did not play the side’s opening game of the tournament against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said Maheesh Theekshana made a full recovery and should play the fixture.
“He’s fit and should play tomorrow,” Naveed Nawaz said. “Didn’t want to risk him in the first game against medical advice but he should be ready here.”
The assistant coach said they side should expect themselves to be under pressure against Pakistan as well.
“It’s simple, we expect to face similar pitches,” he said. “They’re not going to change; it’s going to be batting-friendly mostly. We have to look at our execution and see how we could’ve pulled back another 50-60 runs.
“We have to keep the group positive, that is most important. It’s a long tournament, we’re going to be playing, traveling and doing other things for over a month. We just have to take the learnings from each game and move forward.”
Pakistan and Sri Lanka started their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign on different notes.
Pakistan defeated the Netherlands by 81 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday, whereas Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 102 runs the following day.
Sri Lanka squad for World Cup
Dasun Shanaka (c), Kusal Mendis (vc), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka
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