Shaminda Eranga picked to replace Mathews

Shaminda Eranga, the fast-bowling allrounder, has been picked to replace the injured Angelo Mathews in the Sri Lanka squad currently playing in the Asia Cup.

Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, said that Eranga was picked because the team needed to bolster its rank of fast bowlers for the rest of the tournament. "Lasith Malinga is nursing a groin strain and he was left out of the first match against India," De Mel said. "He will most probably play in tomorrow's game against Pakistan, We thought Eranga, who has recovered from his shoulder injury, would be useful because he can bat as well."

Eranga made his Test debut against Australia at the SSC last year, taking 4 for 65. He has scored a first-class hundred and four half-centuries in his 41-match career. Eranga was originally named in Sri Lanka's Test squad to play Pakistan in the UAE last year, but had to withdraw with a shoulder injury to his right arm.

Apart from Mathews, who has been ruled out with a calf muscle injury, Sri Lanka have also lost the services of another fast bowling all-rounder, Thisara Perera, who picked up a back injury during the triangular one-day series in Australia that also featured India.

Edited by Tariq Engineer