Player replacements approved for ICC Champions Trophy

The Event Technical Committee for the ICC Champions Trophy has approved requests from four countries for the replacement of players in their 14-member squads.

The Event Technical Committee for the ICC Champions Trophy has approved requests from four countries for the replacement of players in their 14-member squads for the elite 12-nation tournament.

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Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar's injured thumb has ruled him out of contention for the September 10-25 event and he will be replaced by left-handed batsman Faisal Hossain.

The Kenya Cricket Association's request to replace Maurice Odumbe with Brijal Patel on "exceptional grounds" was approved by the Committee, as was Sri Lanka Cricket's request to replace Muttiah Muralitharan with Kaushal Lokuarachchi on medical grounds, an ICC media release said here.

While Odumbe is under a match-fixing cloud, Muralitharan is recovering from a recent shoulder surgery.

The fourth replacement is for injured West Indies fast bowler Jermaine Lawson, whose place in the ICC Champions Trophy squad has been taken by Darren Sammy.

Grounds for countries seeking player replacements are classified as either medical injury or illness or exceptional, as in the case of Odumbe, who has been banned by the KCA from all cricket for five years.

Once a player has been replaced in a squad, he can take no further part in the tournament.