The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Kasun Rajitha as a replacement player for Nuwan Pradeep in the Sri Lanka squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Fast bowler Pradeep has been infected with Chickenpox which has ruled him out of further participation in the event.

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives).

Sri Lanka’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-final of the World Cup took a big blow on Friday with the islanders tasting a comprehensive nine-wicket loss to South Africa.

The defeat has left Sri Lanka with six points from seven games and they will need to win both their remaining matches to stand any chance of making the top-four.

Dimuth Karunaratne and his men next face West Indies at Chester-le-Street on July 1.