The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has approved Upul Tharanga as a replacement player for Jeevan Mendis in Sri Lanka’s squad for the tournament.
 
Mendis is suffering from a hamstring injury, which he picked up at a training session on Tuesday. 
 
The 30-year-old Tharanga has played 176 One-Day Internationals in which he has scored 5,339 runs at an average of 33.57. He has also hit 13 centuries and 28 half-centuries. The left-handed opener’s last ODI for Sri Lanka was against India in Cuttack in November 2014.
 
Any injury or illness-based replacement requires a written submission to the Event Technical Committee along with a diagnosis from a medical practitioner as to the extent of the injury or illness. Once replaced, a player may not return to the squad save as an approved subsequent replacement for another injured or ill player.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 is Geoff Allardice (ICC General Manager – Cricket, Chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC General Manager – Commercial), John Harnden (Chief Executive, CWC 2015 LOC), Gavin Larsen (Cricket Operations Manager, New Zealand), Russel Arnold and Sanjay Manjrekar (independent nominees).
 
Sri Lanka is in Pool A of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 along with co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, Bangladesh, England, and qualifiers Afghanistan and Scotland. Sri Lanka lost to New Zealand in the opener in Christchurch, but bounced back to defeat Afghanistan in Dunedin. It takes on Bangladesh in its third pool match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground onThursday, 26 February.