T20 World Cup 2022: Sri Lankan trio of Niroshan Dickwella, Asitha Fernando and Matheesha Pathirana to be sent to Australia as backups

Sri Lankan cricketers Niroshan Dickwella, Asitha Fernando, and Matheesha Pathirana will fly to Australia as backups for the national squad for the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

The Lankan squad has been plagued by injury issues. Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka, and Danushka Gunathilaka have already been ruled out of the World Cup. Further, Pramod Madushan and Pathum Nissanka have had to miss games due to fitness issues.

Sharing a post on their official Instagram handle, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that three backup players will be flying to Australia tonight. The post explained that the cricketers will be based in Melbourne and will only join the T20 World Cup 2022 squad if needed. SLC’s official update stated:

“Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to send 3 additional players to Australia to remain as backups in the event the national T20I team taking part in the World Cup needs any replacements. Accordingly, Niroshan Dickwella (WK-Batsman), Asitha Fernando, and Matheesa Pathirana (Fast Bowlers) will be sent along with Tim McCaskill, Head of the High Performance Center of the SLC.

“The trio will train under the supervision of McCaskill and will be based in Melbourne, and will join the national team only if a requirement arises. They will leave for Australia tonight.”

Sri Lanka's next match in the T20 World Cup will be against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday, October 29.

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Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign so far

The Asia Cup champions began their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in disastrous fashion, going down to Namibia by 55 runs in the tournament opener in Geelong. However, they picked themselves up and registered impressive wins over the United Arab Emirates (79 runs) and the Netherlands (16 runs) to confirm their place in the Super 12 stage.

The Lankans began their Super 12 journey in emphatic fashion, thumping Ireland by nine wickets in Hobart. However, their three-match winning streak was halted by Australia, who defeated them by seven wickets in Perth on Tuesday, October 25.

Sent in to bat first after losing the toss, the Lankans were held to 157/6. Their bowlers fought hard to reduce Australia to 89/3. However, Marcus Stoinis clobbered an unbeaten 59 in 18 balls, striking four fours and six sixes to take the Aussies home in 16.3 overs. Australian captain Aaron Finch was unbeaten on 31 off 42 balls.