Sri Lanka has announced Lasith Malinga's replacement, including a player with experience in 8 T20Is.

Sri Lanka has announced the replacement for the injured Ehsan Malinga for the T20 World Cup 2026. Pramod Madushan will replace Malinga in the tournament. Malinga sustained a shoulder injury during the second match of the recently concluded T20 International series against England.

Malinga injured his shoulder while bowling the first ball after a rain delay in the match. He fell after delivering the ball and injured his left shoulder. This ruled him out of the third T20 International match.

Malinga-Madushan's Experience

Ehsan Malinga had impressed with his performance in IPL 2025, which earned him a place in Sri Lanka's bowling attack. He made his T20 International debut last year in November and took eight wickets at an economy rate of 9.41.

Ehsan Malinga's replacement, Pramod Madushan, has experience of eight T20 International matches. He made his T20 International debut in 2022. He played his last T20 International match in 2023. Madushan has taken 12 wickets in 8 matches so far at an economy rate of 8.63.

ETC Approval

It is important to note that the replacement player needs to be approved by the Event Technical Committee (ETC) before the player is officially added to the team. The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 ETC comprises Wasim Khan (ICC General Manager), Cricket (ICC Representative), Gaurav Saxena (IBC Representative), Hemang Amin (Host Representative), and Shaun Pollock (Independent Representative).

Sri Lanka will begin its campaign against Ireland on February 8 in Colombo. Sri Lanka is placed in Group B along with Oman, Australia, Zimbabwe, and Ireland.