In a major blow to the Sri Lankan team, Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the upcoming summit clash of the ongoing Asia Cup against India due to a grade two hamstring tear. He has been replaced by off spinner Sahan Arachchige for the final.
Theekshana injured his hamstring while trying to save a boundary in the game against Pakistan on Thursday, September 14. He put in the diving attempt on the fifth delivery of the 34th over and was seen in excruciating pain. The star mystery spinner was given immediate medical attention and he came back on the field to complete his quota of overs despite hobbling in discomfort. Sri Lanka Cricket gave the confirmation by taking to the social media platform 'X' formerly Twitter to confirm Theekshana's unavailability.
"Maheesh Theekshana, who strained his right hamstring during the game against Pakistan, will not be available for the finals. A scan was done and confirmed the muscle injury. Sri Lanka Cricket Selectors have brought in Sahan Arachchige into the squad in place of Theekshana. Theekshana will return to the High Performance Center to commence rehabilitation work," read the post.
Theekshana played all five games for the island nation in the tournament before getting ruled out of the finale and bagged eight wickets for his side at an average of 29.12. He recorded a good economy rate of 5.15 and was handy for the skipper Dasun Shanaka because of his potential to bowl with the new ball in the powerplay overs up front. His best bowling figures in the ongoing edition came against Bangladesh while playign at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on September 9.
The injury to Theekshana is a telling blow for the defending champions as they will now rely heavily on left-arm orthodox spinner Dunith Wellalage, who has been in excellent form lately.
