Maheesh Theekshana Ruled Out With Hamstring Injury, Sahan Arachchige Comes In As Replacement

Theekshana strained his right hamstring during the high-voltage match against the Men in Green.

New Delhi: Big news coming in from Sri Lanka that star spinner of the Lankan Lions, Maheesh Theekshana is ruled out of Sunday’s Asia Cup Final against India due to a hamstring injury suffered during the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Asia Cup 2023, Super 4 match on Thursday.

Theekshana strained his right hamstring during the high-voltage match against the Men in Green and was expected to undergo a scan yesterday to know about the severity of the injury. Now as per media reports circulating in the social media, he’s got a grade two hamstring tear and is immediately replaced by Sahan Arachchige in the squad.

Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of Asia Cup final. He’s got a grade two hamstring tear. He’s been replaced by Sahan Arachchige. The problem for Sri Lanka is to figure out what they’d do during the Power Plays against a strong Indian batting unit

— Rex Clementine (@RexClementine) September 16, 2023

Charith Asalanka struck a brilliant unbeaten 49 after Kusal Mendis (91) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (48) laid the foundation with a century stand and guided defending champions Sri Lanka to a two-wicket victory against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka made it to the final for the 11th time in the Asia Cup and will meet India in the final. This is their second final in a row.

Chasing a DLS readjusted target of 252 in a rain-truncated 42-overs-a-side match that ended well past midnight, Sri Lanka rode on a superb performance by their middle order after Pakistan had recovered from 130/5 to post 252 thanks to a memorable rearguard partnership between Mohammad Rizwan (86 not out) and Iftikhar Ahmed (47).

But Sri Lanka survived some anxious moments in the last two overs to scrap through to the final. And it was Kusal Mendis that held the Sri Lanka innings together that set them up for victory.