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Gujarat Titans roped in SL skipper Dasun Shanaka in place of Injured Kane Williamson
IPL 2023
Sri Lankan white ball skipper and all-rounder Dasun Shanaka has been roped in by 2022 title winners Gujarat Titans’ for the ongoing 16th edition of the Indian Premier League after aNew Zealand skipper Kane Williamson sustained a serious knee injury while fielding during Titans’ campaign opener against Chennai Super Kings.
While attempting to stop the ball from going over the fence during the first innings against CSK in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, Williamson had a terrible fall as his body pressure came onto his knees when he landed back on the ground after a jump, leading to a serious injury. The veteran Kiwi batter was taken off the field in pain and was eventually ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.
Williamson returned back home to New Zealand and was seen walking using crutches as he is set to undergo treatment for the injury.
This will be the Sri Lankan skipper’s first appearance in the IPL after being signed by the defending champions for his base price of INR 50 lakh. He has done fairly well on Indian soil in recent past tournaments and it is believed the reason behind his inclusion in the Gujarat Titans squad. Shanaka was in top form while leading Sri Lanka against the Men in Blue during the T20I series which concluded in January 2023, as he finished with a total of 124 runs to his name at a strike rate of 187.87.
The 31-year-old is currently in New Zealand, leading his side in the three-match T20I series against the hosts.
Gujarat Titans, after facing Delhi Capitals on April 4, will be travelling back home to host the Kolkata Knight Riders for their next contest, which is set to be played on April 9 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They will then travel to Mohali, Chandigarh, to face the Punjab Kings in their fourth game of the league stage on April 13. Shanaka might as well feature in Gujarat’s playing combination in the game against Punjab kings
තුවාල ලැබූ කේන් විලියම්සන් වෙනුවට ගුජරාට් ටයිටන්ස් පිලට ශ්රී ලංකා නායක දසුන් ශානක කැඳවා තිබේ.
IPL 2023
ශ්රී ලංකා සුදු පන්දු නායක සහ තුන් ඉරියව් ක්රීඩක දසුන් ශානක 2022 වසරේ ශූරතාව දිනාගත් ගුජරාට් ටයිටන්ස් කණ්ඩායම විසින් 16 වන ඉන්දීය ප්රිමියර් ලීග් තරඟාවලිය සඳහා බඳවා ගනු ලැබුවේ නවසීලන්ත නායක කේන් විලියම්සන් ටයිටන්ස් ප්රචාරක ආරම්භක තරඟයේදී පන්දු රැකීමේදී දණහිසේ බරපතල ආබාධයකට ලක්වීම හේතුවෙන්. ඒ චෙන්නායි සුපර් කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායමට එරෙහිවයි.
තරඟාවලියේ තිර රෙසවුම් තරඟයේදී CSK කණ්ඩායමට එරෙහිව පළමු ඉනිමේදී පන්දුව වැටට උඩින් යාම වැළැක්වීමට උත්සාහ කිරීමේදී, විලියම්සන් පැනීමකින් පසු නැවත බිමට පතිත වූ විට ඔහුගේ සිරුරේ පීඩනය ඔහුගේ දණහිසට පැමිණීම නිසා දරුණු වැටීමකට ලක් විය. බරපතල තුවාලයක්. ප්රවීණ කිවී පිතිකරු වේදනාවෙන් පිටියෙන් ඉවත් වූ අතර අවසානයේ ඔහුට තරඟාවලියේ ඉතිරි තරඟ වලින් ඉවත් විය.
විලියම්සන් නවසීලන්තයට ආපසු නිවසට පැමිණි අතර තුවාලයට ප්රතිකාර ගැනීමට සූදානම්ව සිටින බැවින් කිහිලිකරු භාවිතා කරමින් ඇවිදිමින් සිටිනු දක්නට ලැබිණි.
මෙය ශ්රී ලංකා නායකයා IPL තරඟාවලියට සහභාගී වන පළමු අවස්ථාව වනුයේ වත්මන් ශූරයන් විසින් ඔහුගේ මූලික මිල වන ඉන්දීය රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 50 සඳහා අත්සන් කිරීමෙන් පසුවය. ඔහු පසුගිය තරගාවලිවලදී ඉන්දීය භූමියේ තරමක් හොඳින් දස්කම් දක්වා ඇති අතර ඔහු ගුජරාට් ටයිටන්ස් කණ්ඩායමට ඇතුළත් කිරීමට හේතුව එය බව විශ්වාස කෙරේ. 2023 ජනවාරි මාසයේදී අවසන් වූ විස්සයි20 තරඟාවලියේදී ශානක ශ්රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායමට එරෙහිව ශ්රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායමට නායකත්වය දෙමින් ඉහළම මට්ටමේ සිටියේය.
31 හැවිරිදි ඔහු මේ වන විට නවසීලන්තයේ සිටින අතර සත්කාරකයින්ට එරෙහිව තරඟ තුනකින් යුත් T20I තරඟාවලියේ ඔහුගේ කණ්ඩායමට නායකත්වය දෙයි.
ගුජරාට් ටයිටන්ස්, අප්රේල් 4 දා දිල්ලි කැපිටල්ස් පිලට මුහුණ දීමෙන් පසු, ඔවුන්ගේ මීළඟ තරගය සඳහා කොල්කටා නයිට් රයිඩර්ස් සත්කාරකත්වය දැක්වීම සඳහා ආපසු නිවස බලා යන අතර, එය අපේ්රල් 9 වැනිදා අහමදාබාද්හි නරේන්ද්ර මෝඩි කී්රඩාංගණයේදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිතය. ඉන් අනතුරුව ඔවුන් අප්රේල් 13 වැනිදා පැවැත්වෙන ලීග් අදියරේ ඔවුන්ගේ සිව්වැනි තරගයේදී පන්ජාබ් කිංග්ස් සමග මුහුන දීමට චන්දිගාර්හි මොහාලි වෙත ගමන් කරනු ඇත. පන්ජාබ් කිංග්ස් ට එරෙහි තරගයේදී ශානක ගුජරාටයේ ක්රීඩා සංයෝජනයට ද ඇතුළත් විය හැකිය.
காயம் அடைந்த கேன் வில்லியம்சனுக்குப் பதிலாக, குஜராத் டைட்டன்ஸ் அணி, இலங்கை கேப்டன் தசுன் ஷனகாவை அணியில் சேர்த்துள்ளது.
ஐபிஎல் 2023
நியூசிலாந்து கேப்டன் கேன் வில்லியம்சன், டைட்டன்ஸ் அணியின் தொடக்க ஆட்டத்தில் பீல்டிங் செய்யும் போது முழங்காலில் பலத்த காயம் அடைந்ததை அடுத்து, இந்தியன் பிரீமியர் லீக் தொடரின் 16வது சீசனில், 2022-ம் ஆண்டு சாம்பியன் பட்டம் வென்ற குஜராத் டைட்டன்ஸ் அணியில் இலங்கை வெள்ளை பந்து கேப்டனும், ஆல்-ரவுண்டருமான தசுன் ஷனகா சேர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளார். சென்னை சூப்பர் கிங்ஸ் அணிக்கு எதிராக.
போட்டியின் திரைச்சீலை உயர்த்தியதில் CSK க்கு எதிரான முதல் இன்னிங்ஸின் போது பந்தை வேலிக்கு மேல் செல்வதைத் தடுக்க முயன்றபோது, வில்லியம்சன் ஒரு பயங்கரமான வீழ்ச்சிக்கு ஆளானார், ஏனெனில் அவர் ஒரு குதித்த பிறகு தரையில் மீண்டும் தரையிறங்கியபோது அவரது உடல் அழுத்தம் முழங்கால்களில் வந்தது. ஒரு கடுமையான காயம். அனுபவமிக்க கிவி பேட்டர் வலியால் களத்தில் இருந்து வெளியேற்றப்பட்டார், இறுதியில் அவர் போட்டியின் எஞ்சிய போட்டிகளில் இருந்து வெளியேற்றப்பட்டார்.
வில்லியம்சன் நியூசிலாந்திற்குத் திரும்பினார், காயத்திற்கு சிகிச்சை பெறுவதற்காக ஊன்றுகோல்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி நடப்பதைக் காண முடிந்தது.
50 லட்ச ரூபாய் அடிப்படை விலைக்கு நடப்பு சாம்பியன் ஒப்பந்தம் செய்யப்பட்ட பிறகு, இலங்கை கேப்டன் ஐபிஎல்-ல் விளையாடும் முதல் போட்டி இதுவாகும். அவர் சமீபத்திய கடந்த போட்டிகளில் இந்திய மண்ணில் மிகச் சிறப்பாக செயல்பட்டார், மேலும் குஜராத் டைட்டன்ஸ் அணியில் அவர் சேர்க்கப்பட்டதற்கு இதுவே காரணம் என்று நம்பப்படுகிறது. ஜனவரி 2023 இல் முடிவடைந்த T20I தொடரின் போது, 187.87 ஸ்ட்ரைக் ரேட்டில் மொத்தம் 124 ரன்கள் எடுத்ததன் மூலம், ஷனகா, மென் இன் ப்ளூ அணிக்கு எதிராக இலங்கையை வழிநடத்தும் போது, சிறந்த ஃபார்மில் இருந்தார்.
31 வயதான அவர் தற்போது நியூசிலாந்தில் உள்ளார், புரவலர்களுக்கு எதிரான மூன்று போட்டிகள் கொண்ட T20I தொடரில் தனது அணியை வழிநடத்துகிறார்.
குஜராத் டைட்டன்ஸ், ஏப்ரல் 4 ஆம் தேதி டெல்லி கேப்பிட்டல்ஸை எதிர்கொண்ட பிறகு, கொல்கத்தா நைட் ரைடர்ஸ் அடுத்த போட்டிக்காக தாயகம் திரும்பும், இது ஏப்ரல் 9 ஆம் தேதி அகமதாபாத்தில் உள்ள நரேந்திர மோடி ஸ்டேடியத்தில் நடைபெற உள்ளது. ஏப்ரல் 13 ஆம் தேதி லீக் கட்டத்தின் நான்காவது ஆட்டத்தில் பஞ்சாப் கிங்ஸை எதிர்கொள்வதற்காக அவர்கள் மொஹாலி, சண்டிகருக்குச் செல்வார்கள். பஞ்சாப் கிங்ஸுக்கு எதிரான ஆட்டத்தில் குஜராத்தின் ஆட்டத்தில் ஷனகாவும் இடம்பெறலாம்.
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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