Wanindu Hasaranga of Sunrisers Hyderabad is set to be ruled out of IPL 2024 with a heel injury he had sustained during the Bangladesh tour.
When Sunrisers Hyderabad acquired Wanindu Hasaranga for INR 1.5 crore, it seemed they had cracked the steal of the IPL 2024 auction. If anything, it put them in a conundrum, of which four of their star-studded overseas cricketers to pick.
According to a report in the Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), Hasaranga has now been ruled out of the entire edition of IPL 2024. He will travel to Dubai to meet a podiatrist for expert advice on managing a troubled heel, as recommended by SLC’s physiotherapy department.
“He is not taking part in the IPL as he needs to do some rehabilitation after meeting the podiatrist,” said Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva. “There’s a swelling in the heel and he has been playing with injections. So he has decided to get this issue sorted out before the World Cup and informed us of his decision to skip the IPL this year.”
The Test unretirement-ban saga
The last few weeks have been eventful for Hasaranga. On February 25, during his first series as T20I captain, he abused the umpires and was subsequently suspended for the first two ODIs on the Bangladesh tour.
He played in the third T20I and all three ODIs. On the day of the last of these matches, he was included in the Test squad nearly three years after his last Test match and seven months after his retirement from the format.
The ICC suspended him again for misbehaviour, and Hasaranga served his ban across the first two Test matches, a format he does not play. This led to speculations over his inclusion in the Test squad being deliberate to avoid him being banned at the T20 World Cup, but Sri Lanka Cricket subsequently clarified that he had unretired before the recent suspension.
Hasaranga played through pain
On March 27, reports surfaced that Hasaranga had played the limited-overs matches in Bangladesh through pain. He was also set to leave Sri Lanka a week after that “to seek further medical opinion on the exact nature of the injury, and how best to manage it”.
Going by reports, Hasaranga has now been ruled out of the entire edition of IPL 2024 due to his heel injury. Sunrisers Hyderabad are yet to name a replacement.
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