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Gujarat Titans roped in SL skipper Dasun Shanaka in place of Injured Kane Williamson

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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.

Cricket

Sri Lanka Stunned by Zimbabwe Despite 178 as Bowling Falters in Colombo

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Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup campaign suffered a major setback as they went down to Zimbabwe by six wickets at the R. Premadasa Stadium — a result few predicted before the first ball was bowled.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Sri Lanka posted what appeared to be a competitive 178/7. But defensive bowling and a lack of control in key moments allowed Zimbabwe to chase down 179 with three balls to spare, finishing on 182/4 in 19.3 overs.

Where Sri Lanka Lost the Game

Strong Start, Poor Finish with the Bat

Sri Lanka flew out of the blocks, scoring 61 runs in the Powerplay.

  • Pathum Nissanka led the charge with a fluent 62 off 41 balls.
  • The opening stand raced to 54 inside five overs.

However, momentum dipped sharply in the middle overs:

  • Kusal Mendis struggled (14 off 20).
  • The run rate slowed between overs 7–14.
  • Despite a late push from Pavan Rathnayake (44 off 25), Sri Lanka managed only 28 runs in the final three overs.

From a position of dominance at 108/2, they could not push beyond the 185–190 mark — a total that, in hindsight, proved costly.

Failure to Strike Early with the Ball

Zimbabwe’s chase was built on a solid foundation:

  • 55 runs in the Powerplay without losing a wicket.
  • 69-run opening stand removed early pressure.

Sri Lanka never truly regained control.

The Raza–Bennett Counterattack

The turning point came when captain Sikandar Raza launched a brutal counterattack:

  • 45 off 26 balls
  • 4 sixes
  • 50-run partnership in just 27 balls

Brian Bennett anchored the chase superbly with an unbeaten 63 off 48.

Raza’s assault in overs 15–18 shifted the momentum completely, taking the game away from Sri Lanka just when it seemed evenly poised.

Bowling Concerns Under Lights

Sri Lanka’s bowling lacked penetration:

  • Maheesh Theekshana conceded 47 in 3.3 overs (13.42 economy).
  • No early breakthroughs from the seamers.
  • Only one Powerplay wicket across both innings combined.

On a Colombo surface that slowed slightly, Zimbabwe adapted better, rotating strike efficiently before accelerating at the death.

Key Numbers That Hurt Sri Lanka

  • Zimbabwe Powerplay: 55/0
  • Sri Lanka Powerplay wickets: 0
  • Zimbabwe scored 150 in just 16.1 overs
  • Sri Lanka conceded 9.33 runs per over in the chase

What This Means

Sri Lanka entered as favourites, especially batting first at home. But tactical lapses, middle-over stagnation, and expensive spells under pressure proved decisive.

Zimbabwe, disciplined with the ball and fearless in the chase, fully deserved their two points.

For Sri Lanka, questions now emerge:

  • Is the bowling attack lacking bite?
  • Are middle overs becoming a recurring concern?
  • Was 178 ever going to be enough on this surface?

With tougher fixtures ahead in the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka must regroup quickly — because performances like this could derail their campaign early.

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Cricket

Sri Lanka Sweats on Pathirana Injury; Hasaranga Comeback on the Cards

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Sri Lanka’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign has suffered a major setback, with fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana likely to miss the remainder of the tournament due to injury.

The 23-year-old sustained a calf injury during Sri Lanka’s Group B encounter against Australia on Monday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. The incident occurred in his opening over when, after delivering the fourth ball, Pathirana suddenly pulled up clutching his left calf before collapsing to the ground in visible discomfort.

Team physiotherapists rushed onto the field as concerned teammates gathered around. The pacer was unable to leave the field without assistance, immediately raising concerns about the severity of the injury. Captain Dasun Shanaka completed the over in his absence.

Shortly after, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that Pathirana would take no further part in the match. In a brief statement, SLC said the bowler had experienced discomfort in his left calf and would undergo medical scans for a full assessment.

Major Blow to Pace Attack

Initial indications suggest the injury could rule Pathirana out for the rest of the World Cup — a significant loss for Sri Lanka’s bowling unit. Known for his slingy action and deadly yorkers, especially at the death, Pathirana has been one of Sri Lanka’s most reliable T20 strike bowlers.

If ruled out, team management is expected to consider Dilshan Madushanka or Nuwan Thushara as potential replacements. While both offer pace and variety, replacing Pathirana’s unique skillset will be a challenge.

Hasaranga Return Under Discussion

In a parallel development, Sri Lanka are reportedly exploring the possibility of bringing Wanindu Hasaranga back into the squad as he continues recovery from a hamstring injury.

Although Hasaranga has not yet regained full match fitness, officials are said to be evaluating whether he could feature later in the tournament — particularly if Sri Lanka qualify for the Super Eight stage.

With their final group match effectively a dead rubber, Sri Lanka have a short window to reassess their injury situation and make strategic decisions. The team management is likely to wait for clearer medical reports before confirming any squad changes.

As the tournament enters a decisive phase, Sri Lanka’s hopes may depend as much on fitness updates as on performances on the field.

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Cricket

Colombo Set for High-Voltage India–Pakistan Night Battle

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ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup

Colombo is preparing for one of cricket’s biggest nights as India and Pakistan meet in a marquee clash of the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

Beyond tactics and statistics, this is a contest built on history and pride. With both teams in form and World Cup ambitions on the line, Sunday night promises a high-quality contest under the Colombo lights.

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