News
Another investigation against Chamika Karunaratne
Sri Lankan all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne has been ordered to conduct an investigation once again by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe after a letter written about the player’s behaviour during the T20 World Cup tournament held in Australia last month was made public.
Karunaratne was banned for one year and fined US$5000 by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after Sri Lanka Cricket’s own investigation but asked the Sports Minister to explain his exclusion from the Afghanistan series.
“At the end of Australia’s World Cup tour, I had a discussion with the national coach regarding tour options for Sri Lanka’s tour of Afghanistan. As names were called, Chamika’s name was discussed in detail and the discussion about Chamika’s selection resulted in Chamika’s removal from the tour as the national coach lost faith in him as his coach was exposed as untruthful. On several occasions. “The coach was of the opinion that Chamika was not focused on his game,” Wickramasinghe wrote.
“Even during the T20 World Cup in Australia I observed Chamik very closely, my observation was that wherever we went in the interior he was more focused on meeting women of Sri Lankan origin residing in Australia. Also, I would like to note that he has missed several training sessions on the tour citing feeling ill, however, I have reason to believe that he has been staying with female companions at the hotel. (I would suggest requesting the hotel to provide CCTV footage on the days he is absent from training sessions.)
“It was revealed that his focus was not on cricket and this may have been a major reason why he was not able to perform as expected by the team management. I had a conference call with my fellow selection committee officials mentioning the above events. venue and we have decided to drop him from the tour of Afghanistan to ensure he recovers and focuses on taking his cricket seriously,” the chief selectors also wrote in their letter.
The chief selectors also suggested that the player be given psychological counselling before being considered for international cricket again.
චාමික කරුණාරත්නට එරෙහිව යළිත් වරක් පරීක්ෂණයක්
ශ්රී ලංකා තුන් ඉරියව් ක්රීඩක චාමික කරුණාරත්න පසුගිය මාසයේ ඔස්ට්රේලියාවේ පැවති T20 ලෝක කුසලාන තරඟාවලියේදී ජාතික කණ්ඩායම සමඟ තරඟ සංචාරයක නිරතව සිටියදී ක්රීඩකයාගේ හැසිරීම පිළිබඳව ලියා තිබූ ලිපියක් ප්රසිද්ධියේ පිටවීමත් සමඟ මෙවර ක්රීඩා අමාත්ය රොෂාන් රණසිංහගෙන් යළිත් වරක් පරීක්ෂණයක් පැවැත්වීමට නියෝග කර ඇත.
ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ආයතනය විසින්ම පරීක්ෂණයක් සිදු කිරීමෙන් පසු කරුණාරත්නට ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් (SLC) විසින් වසරක තහනමක් සහ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් 5000 ක දඩයක් නියම කළ නමුත් ඔහු ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන තරඟාවලියෙන් ඉවත් කිරීම ක්රීඩා අමාත්යවරයාට පැහැදිලි කිරීමක් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.
“ඕස්ට්රේලියානු ලෝක කුසලාන තරග සංචාරය අවසානයේදී මම ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානයේ ශ්රී ලංකා සංචාරය සඳහා සංචාර තේරීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජාතික පුහුණුකරු සමඟ සාකච්ඡාවක් පැවැත්වූවා. නම් කතා කරද්දී චාමිකගේ නම විස්තරාත්මකව කතාබහට ලක්වූ අතර චාමිකගේ තේරීම පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡාවේ ප්රතිඵලය වූයේ චාමික පුහුණුකරුට සත්යවාදී නොවීම හෙළිවීම නිසා ජාතික පුහුණුකරුට ඔහු කෙරෙහි විශ්වාසයක් නැතිවී ඇති නිසා ඔහුව මෙම සංචාරයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමයි. අවස්ථා කිහිපයකදී. චාමික ඔහුගේ ක්රීඩාව කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු නොකළ බව පුහුණුකරුගේ මතය විය,” වික්රමසිංහ ලිවීය.
“ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ පැවති T20 ලෝක කුසලානය අතරතුර පවා මම චාමිකව ඉතා සමීපව නිරීක්ෂණය කළෙමි, මගේ නිරීක්ෂණය වූයේ අප අභ්යන්තරයේ කොතැනක ගියත් ඔහු ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ පදිංචිව සිටින ශ්රී ලාංකික සම්භවයක් ඇති කාන්තාවන් හමුවීමට වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කළ බවයි. තවද, ඔහුට අසනීප බවක් දැනෙන බව සඳහන් කරමින් ඔහුට සංචාරයේ පුහුණු සැසි කිහිපයක් මග හැරී ඇති බව සටහන් කිරීමට මම කැමැත්තෙමි, කෙසේ වෙතත් ඔහු හෝටලයේ කාන්තා සහකාරියන්ට නවාතැන් ගෙන ඇති බව විශ්වාස කිරීමට මට හේතුවක් තිබේ. (ඔහු පුහුණු සැසිවලට නොපැමිණි දිනවලදී CCTV දර්ශන ලබා දෙන ලෙස හෝටලයට ඉල්ලීමක් කරන ලෙස මම යෝජනා කරමි.)
“ඔහුගේ අවධානය ක්රිකට් වෙත යොමු නොවූ බවත් කණ්ඩායම් කළමනාකාරිත්වය බලාපොරොත්තු වන අයුරින් ඔහුට ක්රීඩා කිරීමට නොහැකි වීමට මෙය ප්රධාන හේතුවක් වන්නට ඇති බවත් අනාවරණය විය. ඉහත සිදුවීම් සඳහන් කරමින් මම මගේ සෙසු තේරීම් කමිටු නිලධාරීන් සමඟ සම්මන්ත්රණ ඇමතුමක් ලබා ගත්තෙමි. ස්ථානය සහ අපි ඔහුව ඇෆ්ගනිස්තාන සංචාරයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට තීරණය කළේ ඔහු තම ක්රිකට් බැරෑරුම් ලෙස සැලකීමට අවධානය යොමු කර යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමට වග බලා ගැනීම සඳහාය”, ප්රධාන තේරීම් කමිටුව ද සිය ලිපියේ ලියා ඇත.
නැවත ජාත්යන්තර ක්රිකට් සඳහා සලකා බැලීමට පෙර ක්රීඩකයාට මනෝවිද්යාත්මක උපදේශනයක් ලබා දෙන ලෙසද ප්රධාන තේරීම් කමිටුව යෝජනා කළේය.
சாமிக்க கருணாரத்னவுக்கு எதிராக மற்றுமொரு விசாரணை!
கடந்த மாதம் அவுஸ்திரேலியாவில் நடைபெற்ற டி20 உலகக் கிண்ணப் போட்டியின் போது குறித்த வீரரின் நடத்தை தொடர்பில் இலங்கை அணியின் சகலதுறை ஆட்டக்காரர் சாமிக கருணாரத்ன, விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சர் ரொஷான் ரணசிங்க எழுதிய கடிதம் பகிரங்கப்படுத்தப்பட்டதையடுத்து, அவரிடம் மீண்டும் விசாரணை நடத்த உத்தரவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.
ஸ்ரீலங்கா கிரிக்கெட்டின் சொந்த விசாரணையின் பின்னர் கருணாரத்னேவுக்கு ஸ்ரீலங்கா கிரிக்கெட் (SLC) ஒரு வருட தடை மற்றும் US$5000 அபராதம் விதித்தது, ஆனால் அவர் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் தொடரில் இருந்து விலக்கப்பட்டதற்கு விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சரிடம் விளக்கம் கேட்டார்.
“ஆஸ்திரேலியாவின் உலகக் கோப்பை சுற்றுப்பயணத்தின் முடிவில், இலங்கையின் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் சுற்றுப்பயணத்திற்கான சுற்றுப்பயண விருப்பங்கள் குறித்து தேசிய பயிற்சியாளருடன் கலந்துரையாடினேன். பெயர்கள் அழைக்கப்பட்டதால், சாமிக்காவின் பெயர் விரிவாக விவாதிக்கப்பட்டது மற்றும் சமிக்காவின் தேர்வு பற்றிய விவாதம், அவரது பயிற்சியாளர் பொய்யானது என அம்பலப்படுத்தப்பட்டதால், தேசிய பயிற்சியாளர் அவர் மீதான நம்பிக்கையை இழந்ததால், சமிகா சுற்றுப்பயணத்திலிருந்து நீக்கப்பட்டார். பல சந்தர்ப்பங்களில். “சாமிகா தனது விளையாட்டில் கவனம் செலுத்தவில்லை என்று பயிற்சியாளர் கருதினார்” என்று விக்கிரமசிங்க எழுதினார்.
“அவுஸ்திரேலியாவில் நடைபெற்ற டி20 உலகக் கிண்ணத்தின் போது கூட நான் சாமிக்கை மிகவும் உன்னிப்பாக அவதானித்தேன், எனது அவதானிப்பு என்னவென்றால், நாங்கள் உள்நாட்டில் எங்கு சென்றாலும் அவர் ஆஸ்திரேலியாவில் வசிக்கும் இலங்கை வம்சாவளியைச் சேர்ந்த பெண்களைச் சந்திப்பதில் அதிக கவனம் செலுத்தினார். மேலும், அவர் உடல்நிலை சரியில்லாமல் இருப்பதாகக் கூறி சுற்றுப்பயணத்தில் பல பயிற்சி அமர்வுகளை தவறவிட்டார் என்பதை நான் கவனிக்க விரும்புகிறேன், இருப்பினும் அவர் ஹோட்டலில் பெண் தோழர்களுடன் தங்கியிருக்கிறார் என்று நான் நம்புவதற்கு காரணம் உள்ளது. (அவர் பயிற்சி அமர்வுகளில் இல்லாத நாட்களில் சிசிடிவி காட்சிகளை வழங்க ஹோட்டலைக் கோருமாறு நான் பரிந்துரைக்கிறேன்.)
“அவரது கவனம் கிரிக்கெட்டில் இல்லை என்பதும், அணி நிர்வாகம் எதிர்பார்த்தபடி அவரால் செயல்பட முடியாமல் போனதற்கு இது ஒரு முக்கிய காரணமாக இருக்கலாம் என்பதும் தெரியவந்தது. மேற்கண்ட நிகழ்வுகளைக் குறிப்பிட்டு எனது சக தேர்வுக் குழு அதிகாரிகளுடன் ஒரு மாநாட்டு அழைப்பை மேற்கொண்டேன். அவர் குணமடைந்து அவரது கிரிக்கெட்டை தீவிரமாக எடுத்துக்கொள்வதில் கவனம் செலுத்துவதை உறுதி செய்வதற்காக ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் சுற்றுப்பயணத்தில் இருந்து அவரை கைவிட முடிவு செய்துள்ளோம்” என்று தலைமை தேர்வாளர்கள் தங்கள் கடிதத்தில் எழுதினர்.
மீண்டும் சர்வதேச கிரிக்கெட்டுக்கு பரிசீலிக்கப்படுவதற்கு முன், வீரருக்கு உளவியல் ஆலோசனை வழங்கப்பட வேண்டும் என்றும் தலைமை தேர்வாளர்கள் பரிந்துரைத்தனர்.
News
SLR Unveils National Coaching Staff for 2026 Season
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has officially named the coaching and support staff for the national XV-a-side and sevens teams ahead of the 2026 international rugby season, which begins next month with the tour of the New Zealand Under-85kg team to Sri Lanka.
Dushanth Lewke has been appointed as the Head Coach of the national XV-a-side squad for the upcoming international campaigns. He will be supported by forwards coach Henry Terance and assistant coach Lasintha De Costa. The team’s support staff will include Tharanga Premakumara as physiotherapist and Vishvamithra Jayasinghe overseeing strength and conditioning.
Lewke previously served as the forwards coach of the national XV-a-side team during the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship. He also enjoyed a highly successful domestic season, guiding his club CR & FC to a historic double by winning both the League title and the Clifford Cup.
Sri Lanka’s XV-a-side international calendar will begin with the New Zealand Under-85kg tour scheduled for April. Later in the year, Sri Lanka will compete in the Asia Rugby Top 4 tournament alongside South Korea, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
For the men’s sevens programme, Shamly Nawaz and Amjad Buksh have been appointed as co-coaches, while Dansha Dayan will join the setup as an intern coach. Dilan Zoysa will manage strength and conditioning responsibilities and Shafin Majid will serve as the team physiotherapist.

The women’s national programme will be led by head coach Leonard De Zilwa with M. Saldeen appointed as assistant coach. Nimesh De Silva will take on the role of team physiotherapist.
Cricket
92nd Battle of the Saints Set for March at SSC
The stage is set for one of Sri Lanka’s most cherished school cricket rivalries, as St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College prepare to renew their historic contest in the 92nd Battle of the Saints. The three-day encounter will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground on 19, 20 and 21 March, with the prestigious Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy up for grabs.
Adding to the excitement, the 52nd Joe–Pete Limited Overs Encounter for the Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai Trophy will take place on 25 April, also at SSC. Dialog Axiata PLC continues its proud tradition of powering this iconic fixture for the tenth consecutive year, underscoring its commitment to nurturing the champions of tomorrow.
This year, St. Joseph’s will be led by Rishma Amarasinghe, while St. Peter’s will take the field under Enosh Peterson, who starred as Man-of-the-Match in last year’s limited overs clash. The rivalry remains finely balanced: St. Joseph’s has 12 outright wins, their last in 2008, while St. Peter’s boasts 10, most recently in 2016. A remarkable 68 encounters have ended in draws, reflecting the competitive spirit that defines this fixture. The 2025 edition, contested as a three-day match for the first time, fittingly ended in a draw.
In the shorter format, St. Joseph’s holds a narrow edge with 25 victories compared to St. Peter’s 23, alongside two no-results and one tie. The 51st encounter saw St. Peter’s clinch a thrilling four-wicket win to retain the Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai Memorial Shield.
Beyond the numbers, both schools carry a proud legacy of producing cricketing greats who have represented Sri Lanka at the highest level. Josephian alumni include Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Dunith Wellalage, Thisara Perera, and Sadeera Samarawickrama, while Peterites have given the nation stars such as Roy Dias, Rumesh Ratnayake, Russel Arnold, Angelo Perera, and Janith Liyanage.
Speaking ahead of the match, Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo of St. Peter’s emphasized that the fixture represents more than competition, symbolizing brotherhood, character, and the highest standards of school cricket. Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi of St. Joseph’s echoed the sentiment, highlighting the values of discipline, teamwork, and fellowship that unite generations of players and supporters.
Dialog’s Group Chief Marketing Officer, Lasantha Thverapperuma, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Big Match season, calling it a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s sporting heritage and wishing both teams success in what promises to be another memorable chapter in this storied rivalry.
Cricket
LPL Player Draft Postponed Amid Middle East Tensions
The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 has encountered an unexpected delay, with organizers confirming that the highly anticipated player draft will not take place this month due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. While the draft has been pushed back, the tournament itself remains firmly on schedule, set to run from 8 July to 8 August 2026.
Despite the setback, excitement around the sixth edition of the league continues to build. Several prominent international cricketers have already expressed their interest in participating, reinforcing the LPL’s growing stature in the global cricket calendar.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also exploring the possibility of expanding the list of venues for this year’s competition. The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo has emerged as a strong candidate following the installation of floodlights, which now allow the historic venue to host day-night fixtures. If included, SSC would join the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and Dambulla International Stadium, easing logistical challenges and giving fans in the capital another opportunity to witness the action.
Although no official confirmation has been made, discussions are ongoing, and SSC is increasingly seen as a likely addition to the venue lineup.
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