The Sri Lankan all rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has been declared out of the rest of the 2026 T20 world cup tournament because of a serious tear in his left hamstring. The injury was sustained by the former captain in Sri Lanka where the group stage was won on Sunday, February 8.
Hasaranga was instrumental to the 20-run victory of the hosts, where he came up with figures that gave match-winning numbers of 3/25 in the second innings. The mystery spinner was the participant in the tournament, who was ranked No. 6 in the world in terms of T20 bowling, but his campaign ended unfortunately in the middle.
He was evidently finding it hard to reach the later part of the innings, and was hobbling, incapable of bowling with his usual run-up and effort. Hasaranga was incredibly determined to avoid being upset by Harry Tector and Curtis Campher despite the discomfort, as he dismissed them, and helped Sri Lanka reverse the situation to prevent an embarrassment.
The injury is a continuation of the previous fitness setbacks that Hasaranga had experienced. This was his second operation on his right hamstring after the Lanka Premier League, which cost him the ODI World Cup later that year.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) are supposed to replace him with Dushan Hemantha till the end of the tournament. The last time Hemantha was on the Sri Lankan team was in the away series to Zimbabwe in September of 2025.
Wanindu Hasaranga was signed by LSG for his base price in IPL 2026 Auction ahead of T20 World Cup 2026
Sri Lanka will undoubtedly feel the absence of the experienced spinner on familiar conditions. For the rest of their T20 World Cup campaign, the responsibility will now fall on the finger-spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage to step up and deliver.
Considering the severity of Hasaranga’s injury and his history of recurring hamstring problems, this latest setback also casts serious doubt over his participation in the upcoming IPL season. After being released by the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the end of the 2025 campaign, Hasaranga was picked up by the Rishabh Pant led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at his base price of INR 2 crore during the IPL 2026 mini auction.
