Why is Dasun Shanaka not captaining Sri Lanka in today’s 2023 World Cup match against Australia?

Australia and Sri Lanka are squaring off in the 14th match of the 2023 World Cup today (October 16) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Sri Lanka's regular skipper Dasun Shanaka has been ruled out of action for a couple of weeks after he suffered a right thigh muscle injury during their previous match against Pakistan. As a result, Shanaka will now miss the rest of Sri Lanka's 2023 World Cup matches.

Chamika Karunaratne has joined the squad as his replacement while Kusal Mendis has taken over the captaincy for the rest of the World Cup. Karunaratne was already in India with the squad as a traveling reserve. Matheesha Pathirana is also facing fitness issues, forcing him a couple of games.

Both Australia and Sri Lanka have gotten off to poor starts in the tournament, as they lost their first two games so far and are at the bottom of the points table.

Lankan captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and opted to bat first in the contest against Australia. They made two forced changes as Chamika Karunaratne and Lahiru Kumara came in for Dasun Shanaka and Matheesha Pathirana.

Speaking after winning the toss, Mendis said:

"We want to bat first. I think the wicket is really good. We would want to put up a big score on the board. There might be some spin in the second innings, and since we have a few of them, we are backing ourselves. Dasun (Shanaka) and Matheesha (Pathirana) are missing out. Chamika (Karunaratne) and Lahiru (Kumara) are in."

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Australia playing XI:

Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

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Sri Lanka playing XI:

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka.

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Do you think Sri Lanka can reach the semi-finals under new captain Kusal Mendis? Let us know your views in the comments section.