SL captain Dasun Shanaka ruled out of World Cup, Karunaratne named his replacement
New Delhi (PTI): Dealing a big jolt to Sri Lanka's floundering campaign in the World Cup, their captain Dasun Shanaka on Saturday was ruled out of the mega event with a right thigh muscle injury.
Shanaka suffered the injury during their match against Pakistan on October 10, and he would take at least three weeks to recover, forcing the Lankans to seek a replacement, the ICC stated in a release.
The ICC Event Technical Committee has approved Chamika Karunaratne as Shanaka's replacement.
Sri Lanka have lost their opening two matches in the tournament to South Africa and Pakistan.
The 32-year-old Shanaka had made a 62-ball 68 against South Africa in New Delhi when they chased an imposing 429.
Karunaratne is a middle-order batter and right-arm medium pacer who has played 23 ODIs for the Islanders.
The 27-year-old has taken 24 wickets from 23 matches and has scored 443 runs with a fifty.
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BJP will form govt in Bengal with thumping majority: Nabin
Mirzapur (UP) (PTI): BJP president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday voiced confidence that his party will form the government in West Bengal with a "thumping majority".
Polling is underway for 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, covering key districts, including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas.
The high-stakes contest is being seen as decisive for the ruling TMC's bid for a fourth consecutive term and the BJP's push to form its first government in the state. The first phase held on April 23 recorded a high voter turnout of over 93 per cent, reflecting intense electoral engagement.
Speaking to reporters in Mirzapur, Nabin said, "The BJP will form the government in Bengal. We are winning the elections with a massive majority."
Earlier in the day, the BJP chief visited the Vindhyavasini temple and offered prayers. The rituals were conducted by his priest Acharya Agastya Kumar Dwivedi.
On his first visit to the district after assuming office, Nabin was welcomed by party workers at several places. At the temple, he was received by city MLA Ratnakar Mishra and District Magistrate Pawan Kumar Gangwar, who felicitated him with a traditional 'angvastram'.
After offering prayers for about 10 minutes amid Vedic chants, Nabin held a meeting at a hotel with local MLAs, including Mishra, Majhwan MLA Suchismita Maurya and Madihan MLA Ramashankar Patel.
Patel said Nabin emphasised strengthening the organisation and asked public representatives to focus on serving people in their respective constituencies.
Several party leaders, including district president Lal Bahadur Saroj, district vice-president Gaurav Umar, municipal chairperson Shyam Sundar Kesari, women workers and senior officials, were present on the occasion.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place by the district administration for the visit, with multiple officers of circle officer rank deployed, officials said.
