Upul Tharanga replaces Jeevan Mendis in Sri Lanka World Cup squad

Opening batsman Upul Tharanga will join Sri Lanka at the Cricket World Cup as a replacement for injured all rounder Jeevan Mendis. [caption id=“attachment_2114371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena, left, is congratulated by teammate Jeewan Mendis after scoring century during their Cricket World Cup. AP[/caption] The International Cricket Council approved the replacement after Mendis injured a hamstring at training on Tuesday. Sri Lanka will play Bangladesh in Melbourne on Thursday in its third match in Pool A. It lost to New Zealand in its opening match but beat Afghanistan on Sunday. The 30-year-old Tharanga has played 176 one-day internationals scoring 5,339 runs at an average of 33.57 with 13 centuries and 28 half centuries. He played his most-recent ODI against India in November. AP