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Kusal, Chameera available for selection

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Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka 2023

Dashing batter Kusal Janith Perera and pace spearhead Dushmantha Chameera is fully fit and available for selection for the ODI series against Afghanistan scheduled to be played next month in Hamabanthota.

Kusal Perera who was not part of the ODI squad against New Zealand in March-April is likely to make a comeback for the 50-over format after a lapse of 3 years. Kusal however made his return to competitive cricket during the T20I against New Zealand.

Kusal was out of action for almost three years due to a shoulder injury for which he underwent surgery in the United Kingdom last year.
Meanwhile, Dushmantha Chameera will also return to competitive cricket 1 year after he underwent ankle surgery.

Earlier the 31-year-old was initially named in the squad for the New Zealand tour by the selectors with the hope he would have completed his rehabilitation by the time of the tour, but his progress wasn’t up to satisfactory levels at the time which made him unable to make the trip.

Now fully recovered, Chameera’s inclusion in the squad will boost Sri Lanka’s bowling department, especially with World Cup qualifier matches coming up in June-July.

Sources at SLC said though a 30-member pool has been picked for the Afghanistan tour and for the World Cup qualifiers, it will be pruned down to 15-17 after a few practice sessions.

Afghanistan will arrive in Sri Lanka on 29 May and the three ODIs will be played on 2, 4 and 7 June at the MRIC Stadium in Hambantota.
Afghanistan last toured Sri Lanka for an ODI series in November 2022, when the sides engaged in a competitive battle. Afghanistan stunned Sri Lanka in the first ODI, winning the contest by 60 runs. After a no result in the second contest, the Lankans roared back by winning the third ODI by four wickets and levelling the series.

The series will also mark the return of international men’s cricket in Hambantota, with the venue last hosting an ODI match in February 2020.

இலங்கை அணி தேர்வுக்கு குசல், சமீரா உள்ளனர்

இலங்கைக்கான ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் சுற்றுப்பயணம் 2023

வேகப்பந்து வீச்சாளர் குசல் ஜனித் பெரேரா மற்றும் வேகப்பந்து வீச்சாளர் துஷ்மந்த சமீர ஆகியோர் முழு உடற்தகுதியுடன் உள்ளனர் மற்றும் ஆப்கானிஸ்தானுக்கு எதிரான ஒருநாள் போட்டித் தொடருக்கு அடுத்த மாதம் ஹமாபந்தோட்டாவில் விளையாடத் தயாராக உள்ளனர்.

மார்ச்-ஏப்ரல் மாதங்களில் நியூசிலாந்துக்கு எதிரான ODI அணியில் இடம் பெறாத குசல் பெரேரா 3 ஆண்டுகளுக்குப் பிறகு 50 ஓவர் வடிவத்திற்கு மீண்டும் வர வாய்ப்புள்ளது. இருப்பினும் நியூசிலாந்துக்கு எதிரான டி20 போட்டியின் போது குசல் போட்டி கிரிக்கெட்டுக்கு திரும்பினார்.

தோள்பட்டையில் ஏற்பட்ட காயம் காரணமாக குசல் கிட்டத்தட்ட மூன்று வருடங்கள் விளையாடாமல் இருந்தார், அதற்காக அவர் கடந்த ஆண்டு இங்கிலாந்தில் அறுவை சிகிச்சை செய்தார்.
இதேவேளை, துஷ்மந்த சமீரவும் கணுக்கால் சத்திரசிகிச்சைக்கு உட்பட்ட 1 வருடத்தின் பின்னர் போட்டி கிரிக்கெட்டுக்கு திரும்பவுள்ளார்.

முன்னதாக, 31 வயதான அவர் நியூசிலாந்து சுற்றுப்பயணத்திற்கான அணியில் முதலில் தேர்வுக்குழுவால் பெயரிடப்பட்டார், சுற்றுப்பயணத்தின் போது அவர் தனது மறுவாழ்வை முடித்திருப்பார் என்ற நம்பிக்கையுடன், ஆனால் அந்த நேரத்தில் அவரது முன்னேற்றம் திருப்திகரமாக இல்லை. இதனால் அவரால் பயணம் செய்ய முடியவில்லை.

இப்போது முழுமையாக குணமடைந்து, சமீரா அணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டிருப்பது இலங்கையின் பந்துவீச்சுத் துறையை உயர்த்தும், குறிப்பாக ஜூன்-ஜூலையில் உலகக் கோப்பை தகுதிச் சுற்றுப் போட்டிகள் நடைபெறவுள்ளன.

ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் சுற்றுப்பயணம் மற்றும் உலகக் கோப்பை தகுதிச் சுற்றுக்கு 30 பேர் கொண்ட குழு தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டிருந்தாலும், சில பயிற்சி அமர்வுகளுக்குப் பிறகு அது 15-17 ஆக குறைக்கப்படும் என்று SLC இன் வட்டாரங்கள் தெரிவித்தன.

மே 29 ஆம் தேதி ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் இலங்கை வந்தடையும் மற்றும் மூன்று ஒருநாள் போட்டிகள் ஜூன் 2, 4 மற்றும் 7 ஆம் தேதிகளில் ஹம்பாந்தோட்டையில் உள்ள MRIC மைதானத்தில் நடைபெறும்.
ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் கடைசியாக நவம்பர் 2022 இல் ஒருநாள் தொடருக்காக இலங்கைக்கு சுற்றுப்பயணம் செய்தது, அப்போது இரு அணிகளும் போட்டி போரில் ஈடுபட்டன. இலங்கைக்கு எதிரான முதல் ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணி 60 ரன்கள் வித்தியாசத்தில் வெற்றி பெற்றது. இரண்டாவது போட்டியில் எந்த முடிவும் எட்டப்படாத நிலையில், மூன்றாவது ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் 4 விக்கெட்டுகள் வித்தியாசத்தில் வெற்றி பெற்று தொடரை சமன் செய்தது இலங்கை அணி.

இந்தத் தொடர் அம்பாந்தோட்டையில் சர்வதேச ஆண்கள் கிரிக்கெட் மீண்டும் தொடங்குவதைக் குறிக்கும், அந்த மைதானம் பிப்ரவரி 2020 இல் கடைசியாக ODI போட்டியை நடத்துகிறது.

කුසල්, චමීර ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංචිතය තේරීමට සිටිති

2023 ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන සංචාරය

දක්ෂ පිතිකරු කුසල් ජනිත් පෙරේරා සහ වේග පන්දු යවන දුෂ්මන්ත චමීර පූර්ණ ශරීර යෝග්‍යතාවයෙන් පසුවන අතර ලබන මස හමාබන්තොටදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානයට එරෙහිව පැවැත්වෙන එක්දින තරගාවලිය සඳහා තේරීම් සඳහා ඉදිරිපත්ව සිටිති.

මාර්තු-අප්‍රේල් මාසවලදී නවසීලන්තයට එරෙහිව එක්දින සංචිතයට ඇතුළත් නොවූ කුසල් පෙරේරා වසර 3කට පසු ඕවර 50 ආකෘතියට නැවත පැමිණීමට ඉඩ තිබේ. කෙසේ වෙතත් කුසල් නවසීලන්තයට එරෙහි විස්සයි20 තරගයේදී නැවත තරගකාරී ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවට පිවිසියේය.

උරහිසේ ආබාධයක් හේතුවෙන් කුසල් වසර තුනකට ආසන්න කාලයක් ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් ඉවත්ව සිටි අතර ඔහු පසුගිය වසරේ එක්සත් රාජධානියේදී ශල්‍යකර්මයකට භාජනය විය.
මේ අතර දුෂ්මන්ත චමීර ද වළලුකර ශල්‍යකර්මයකට භාජනය වී වසර 1 කට පසු නැවතත් තරග ක්‍රිකට් පිටියට පිවිසෙනු ඇත.

මීට පෙර 31 හැවිරිදි ඔහු නවසීලන්ත සංචාරය සඳහා වන සංචිතයට තේරීම් කමිටුව විසින් මුලින් නම් කරනු ලැබුවේ ඔහු සංචාරය වන විට ඔහුගේ පුනරුත්ථාපනය අවසන් කරනු ඇතැයි බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් වන නමුත් ඔහුගේ ප්‍රගතිය ඒ වන විට සතුටුදායක මට්ටමක නොතිබුණි. එයින් ඔහුට ගමන යාමට නොහැකි විය.

දැන් සම්පූර්ණයෙන් සුවය ලබා ඇති චමීර සංචිතයට ඇතුළත් කිරීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පන්දු යැවීමේ අංශය ඉහළ නංවනු ඇත, විශේෂයෙන් ජූනි-ජූලි මාසවල පැවැත්වෙන ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරඟ සමඟ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ආයතනයේ ආරංචි මාර්ග පැවසුවේ ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන සංචාරය සහ ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරඟ සඳහා 30 දෙනෙකුගෙන් යුත් සංචිතයක් තෝරාගෙන ඇතත්, පුහුණු සැසි කිහිපයකින් පසුව එය 15-17 දක්වා කප්පාදු කෙරෙනු ඇති බවයි.

ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය මැයි 29 වැනිදා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණෙන අතර එක්දින තරග තුන ජුනි 2, 4 සහ 7 යන දිනවල හම්බන්තොට MRIC ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී පැවැත්වේ.
ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානය අවසන් වරට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ එක්දින තරඟාවලියක් සඳහා සංචාරය කළේ 2022 නොවැම්බර් මාසයේදී දෙපාර්ශවය තරඟකාරී සටනක නිරත වූ අවස්ථාවේදීය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය අතර පැවති පළමු එක්දින තරගය ලකුණු 60කින් ජය ගැනීමට ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය සමත් විය. දෙවැනි තරගයේ කිසිදු ප්‍රතිඵලයක් නොලැබීමෙන් පසු තුන්වැනි එක්දින තරගය කඩුලු 4කින් ජය ගනිමින් තරගාවලිය සම කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයෝ සමත් වූහ.

මෙම තරඟාවලිය හම්බන්තොට ජාත්‍යන්තර පිරිමි ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ පුනරාගමනය ද සනිටුහන් කරනු ඇත, එම ස්ථානය අවසන් වරට 2020 පෙබරවාරි මස ODI තරඟයක් පවත්වනු ලැබේ.

Cricket

Inquiry Launched Over Bloomfield’s Controversial Declaration

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Sri Lanka Cricket has moved swiftly to launch an inquiry into Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club’s declaration during their Major Super Eight encounter against Moors Sports Club at Colts Grounds. The decision, which has been branded “unsporty” by critics, saw Bloomfield declare at 239 for 6 despite trailing on first innings, leaving Moors a modest chase of 147 runs. Moors completed the task comfortably, winning by four wickets in just 33 overs and reclaiming their place at the top of the table.

The declaration has raised serious questions about the spirit of competition, prompting SLC to summon captains, coaches, managers, and players from both sides for an official hearing this evening. At the heart of the probe lies a crucial issue: was Bloomfield’s move a bold tactical gamble or a breach of cricketing integrity?

With domestic cricket’s credibility now under the spotlight, the outcome of this inquiry could have significant consequences for the game in Sri Lanka, setting a precedent for how declarations and match strategies are judged in the future.

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Cricket

Royal–Thomian One-Day Clash Moved from Night to Day to Counter Fuel Crisis

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The Organizing Committee of the 49th Mustangs Trophy, the prestigious Royal‑Thomian One‑Day Cricket Encounter, has announced a significant change to this year’s fixture. The match, scheduled for 28th March 2026, will now be played as a day event instead of the originally planned day‑night format.

This decision comes in response to the ongoing global fuel crisis, with organizers emphasizing the importance of reducing energy consumption and standing in solidarity with the wider public. By shifting to a daytime schedule, the committee aims to minimize the additional fuel demands typically associated with floodlit matches, reflecting a strong commitment to social responsibility and national interest.

Guidance for this move was provided by the Heads of Royal College and S. Thomas’ College, and the change has been formally endorsed by the 147th Royal‑Thomian Joint Match Organising Committee. Both schools’ Old Boy fraternities, along with sponsors, have expressed full support for the adjustment, underscoring the unity and shared responsibility that define this historic encounter.

The Joint Committee reaffirmed that while the format has changed, the essence of the Mustangs Trophy remains untouched.

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Cricket

KKR Not Seeking Replacements for Matheesha Pathirana

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Kolkata Knight Riders have confirmed they will not seek replacements for Nitish Rana and Matheesha Pathirana ahead of the upcoming IPL season. Rana, who was withdrawn from India’s T20 World Cup squad due to a knee injury, recently underwent surgery and will not be available this year. Over the past two seasons, he had become a reliable pacer for the franchise, taking 19 wickets in IPL 2024 and 15 wickets in IPL 2025, while also adding batting depth to his game. Despite his absence, the management believes the squad has sufficient pace-bowling options and does not see an obvious Indian replacement, with Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and Akash Deep already in the ranks.

Pathirana, meanwhile, was sidelined due to injury while representing Sri Lanka in the World Cup. However, KKR are optimistic about his recovery and expect him to be available at some stage during the season. The franchise, which invested INR 18 crore to secure his services, is banking on his return to strengthen their death bowling. On Monday, Pathirana’s manager posted a picture of the pacer in KKR colours, raising hopes of his participation.

By choosing not to sign replacements, KKR have signaled confidence in their existing squad depth. While Rana’s absence will test their domestic pace resources, Pathirana’s potential mid-season return could provide a crucial boost, especially in the latter stages of the tournament.

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