T20 World Cup: Sri Lanka add Asitha, Pathirana and Dickwella to their World Cup squad

Sri Lanka team in action [Source: Twitter]

Following a series of injuries to their players, Sri Lanka have added fast bowlers Asitha Fernando and Matheesha Pathirana, and keeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella as the backups to their T20 World Cup squad. 

Binura Fernando, who replaced Dilshan Madushanka in the lineup, suffered a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka's last fixture against Australia on Tuesday. He limped off the field and could not complete even a single over. 

Earlier, Dushmantha Chameera was ruled out of the showpiece event due to a grade-two tear in his left foot against UAE in the preliminary round. Furthermore, Pramod Madushan is not yet featured for the Islanders after suffering an injury in the same match.

On the batting front, Danushka Gunathilaka was ruled out of the tournament owing to a hamstring injury. Ashen Bandara was called up as his replacement, who featured for the team against Ireland. 

The backup player, Asitha, has been a part of three T20Is, while Pathirana has played only a solitary T20I. On the other hand, Dickwella is an experienced batter with 28 T20I appearances. 

With a single win and a loss, Sri Lanka are second in the points table. They will face New Zealand on Saturday (October 29) in Sydney in a must-win fixture. 

Read more: ICC Rankings: Virat Kohli roars his way back into top 10 after Pakistan heroics