News
Dilshan Madushanka creates history after becoming the most expensive buy at LPL Auction
Left-arm paceman Dilshan Madushanka created history when he was sold as the highest bid for Jaffna Kings at the inaugural Lanka Premier League players Auction staged at Shangri-la hotel, yesterday.
An intense bidding war between Jaffna Kings and Galle Titans was seen for Dilshan Madushanka, with both teams bidding and counterbidding each. But it was clear that the three-time Champions Jaffna Kings wanted the 22-year-old at any cost and they succeeded when they eventually bought Madushanka for whopping 92,000 Dollars.
Among the other highlights picks at Auction was, Dananjaya de Silva who was the first player to be sold on the day for Dambulla Aura for 76,000 Dollars.
Dashing batter Charith Asalanka was also clearly in demand as a bidding war broke out for him as well. In the end, the star player was sold to Jaffna Kings for 80,000 Dollars.
The Auction, which had 51 rounds, focused on multiple talent options, such as batters, all-rounders, fast and spin bowlers, and wicketkeepers, with different segments for each criterion, such as capped batters, uncapped batters, etc.
Among the unsold list were some of the key players who are having experience in franchise cricket Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh ), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Imad Wasim (Pakistan), Mushfiqar Rahman and Litton Das (Bangladesh), Ben Mcdermott( Australia), Tim Serfit( New Zealand), Azam Khan ( Australia), Andrew Tye (Australia), Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan), Jasen Behrandorff (Australia), Zahir Khan (India), Imran Thahir (Pakistan) were in the unsold foreign players list while Sri test captain Dimuth Karunaratne, Leg spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis and Shehan Jayasuriya who based in USA also among the unsold list.
The Five franchises were allowed to spend $500,000 at the auction.
Following are the players sold for five franchise teams yesterday.
Jaffna Kings:
Nishan Madushka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Asanka Manoj (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Theesan Vithusan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (Sri Lanka) – US$ 18,000, Pathum Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 56,000, Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 80,000, Asitha Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Hardus Viljoen (South Africa) – US$ 30,000, Nuwan Thushara (Sri Lanka) – US $ 30,000
B- Love Kandy
Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka) – US$ 60,000, Asif Ali (Pakistan) – US$ 30,000, Navod Paranavithana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Haris (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000, Ashen Bandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Sahan Arachchige (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 70,000, Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan) – US$ 34,000, Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka) – US$ 72,000, Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Chathuranga de Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nuwan Pradeep (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Madushanka (Sri Lanka) – US $ 26,000.
Galle Titans
Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Shiraz (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shevon Daniel (Sri Lanka) – US$ 22,000, Pasidu Sooriyabandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Minod Bhanuka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Mohammad Mithun (Bangladesh) – US$ 20,000, Ben Cutting (Australia) – US$ 30,000, Ashan Priyanjana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Lasith Croospulle (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 42,000, Seekuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka) – US$ 15,000, Kasun Rajitha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000
Colombo Strikers
Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Dhananjaya Lakshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Angelo Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Jeffrey Vandersay (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lorcan Tucker (Ireland) – US$ 10,000, Iftikhar Ahmad (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Nuwanidu Fernabdo (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Shashika Dulshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 6500, Eshan Malinga (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Movin Subasinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nipun Dananjaya (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lakshan Sandakan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 30,000, Wahab Riaz (Pakistan) – US$ 40,000, Niroshan Dickwella (Sri Lanka) – US$ 44,000, Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000.
Dambulla Aura
Pramod Madushan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 34,000, Dushan Hemantha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Janith Liyanage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Sachitha Jayathilaka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan) – US$ 50,000, Binura Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka) – US$ 68,000, Hayden Kerr (Australia) – US$ 20,000, Kusal Janith Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Dhananjaya De Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Lakshna Edirisinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Shahnawaz Dahani (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000.
Dilshan Madushanka LPL වෙන්දේසියේ මිල අධිකම මිලදී ගැනීම බවට පත්වේ.
වමත් වේගපන්දු යවන ඩිල්ෂාන් මධුශංක ඊයේ ෂැංග්රිලා හෝටලයේ පැවැති මංගල ලංකා ප්රිමියර් ලීග් ක්රීඩක වෙන්දේසියේදී යාපනය කිංග්ස් වෙනුවෙන් වැඩිම ලංසුවකට ඉතිහාසගත අලෙවි විය.
ජැෆ්නා කිංග්ස් සහ ගාලු ටයිටන්ස් අතර ඩිල්ෂාන් මධුශංඛ වෙනුවෙන් දැඩි ලංසු තැබීමේ සටනක් දක්නට ලැබුණු අතර කණ්ඩායම් දෙකම එක් එක් ලංසු ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් ප්රති-ලංසු ඉදිරිපත් කළහ. එහෙත් තුන් වතාවක් ශූරයන් වූ යාපනය කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායමට 22 හැවිරිදි තරුණයා අවශ්ය වූ බව පැහැදිලි වූ අතර අවසානයේ ඔවුන් ඩොලර් 92,000 කට මධුශංක මිලදී ගත් විට ඔවුන් සාර්ථක විය.
වෙන්දේසියේ අනෙකුත් විශේෂ තේරීම් අතර, දඹුල්ල ඕරා වෙනුවෙන් ඩොලර් 76,000 කට අලෙවි වූ පළමු ක්රීඩකයා වූයේ ධනංජය ද සිල්වාය.
දඩබ්බර පිතිකරු චරිත් අසලංකටද ලංසු තැබීමේ තරඟයක් ඇති වූ බැවින් ඔහුටද ඉල්ලුමක් ඇති විය. අවසානයේ මෙම තරු ක්රීඩකයා ජැෆ්නා කිංග්ස් වෙත ඩොලර් 80,000 කට අලෙවි විය.
පිතිකරුවන්, තුන් ඉරියව් ක්රීඩකයින්, වේග සහ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන් සහ කඩුලු රකින්නන් කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරමින් වට 51 කින් සමන්විත වූ වෙන්දේසිය, ජාත්යන්තර වරම් හිමි හා නොහිමි ක්රිඩකයන් යනාදී එක් එක් නිර්ණායක සඳහා විවිධ කාණ්ඩ සමඟින් මෙවර ලංසු තැබීම ආරම්භ විය.
වෙන්දේසියේදී කණ්ඩායම් පහට ඩොලර් 500,000ක් වැය කිරීමට අවසර ලැබිණි.
ඊයේ දිනයේදී ෆ්රැන්චයිස් කණ්ඩායම් පහක් සඳහා අලෙවි වූ ක්රීඩකයින් පහත දැක්වේ.
Jaffna Kings:
Nishan Madushka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Asanka Manoj (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Theesan Vithusan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth (Sri Lanka) – US$ 18,000, Pathum Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 56,000, Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 80,000, Asitha Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Hardus Viljoen (South Africa) – US$ 30,000, Nuwan Thushara (Sri Lanka) – US $ 30,000
B- Love Kandy
Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka) – US$ 60,000, Asif Ali (Pakistan) – US$ 30,000, Navod Paranavithana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Haris (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000, Ashen Bandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Sahan Arachchige (Sri Lanka) – US$ 28,000, Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 70,000, Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan) – US$ 34,000, Dinesh Chandimal (Sri Lanka) – US$ 72,000, Isuru Udana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Chathuranga de Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nuwan Pradeep (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Madushanka (Sri Lanka) – US $ 26,000.
Galle Titans
Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Mohammad Shiraz (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Shevon Daniel (Sri Lanka) – US$ 22,000, Pasidu Sooriyabandara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Minod Bhanuka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Mohammad Mithun (Bangladesh) – US$ 20,000, Ben Cutting (Australia) – US$ 30,000, Ashan Priyanjana (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Sohan De Livera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Lasith Croospulle (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 42,000, Seekuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka) – US$ 15,000, Kasun Rajitha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000
Colombo Strikers
Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Dhananjaya Lakshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Angelo Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Jeffrey Vandersay (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Lorcan Tucker (Ireland) – US$ 10,000, Iftikhar Ahmad (Pakistan) – US$ 50,000, Nuwanidu Fernabdo (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Shashika Dulshan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 6500, Eshan Malinga (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lahiru Udara (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Movin Subasinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Nipun Dananjaya (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5000, Lakshan Sandakan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 30,000, Wahab Riaz (Pakistan) – US$ 40,000, Niroshan Dickwella (Sri Lanka) – US$ 44,000, Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000.
Dambulla Aura
Pramod Madushan (Sri Lanka) – US$ 34,000, Dushan Hemantha (Sri Lanka) – US$ 20,000, Janith Liyanage (Sri Lanka) – US$ 10,000, Sachitha Jayathilaka (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan) – US$ 50,000, Binura Fernando (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Sadeera Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka) – US$ 68,000, Hayden Kerr (Australia) – US$ 20,000, Kusal Janith Perera (Sri Lanka) – US$ 40,000, Dhananjaya De Silva (Sri Lanka) – US$ 76,000, Lakshna Edirisinghe (Sri Lanka) – US$ 5,000, Shahnawaz Dahani (Pakistan) – US$ 20,000.
Football
European Parliament Members Push for FIFA Inquiry Over Balogun Suspension Decision
A group of European Parliament members is seeking a formal investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino following the controversial decision to allow United States forward Folarin Balogun to play after receiving a red card earlier in the tournament.
The lawmakers argue that the move raises serious concerns about FIFA’s independence and whether political influence played a role in altering a disciplinary decision during the FIFA World Cup.
Balogun, 25, was sent off in the United States’ July 1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under standard tournament regulations, the dismissal would have ruled him out of his team’s next fixture. However, FIFA’s disciplinary authorities later lifted the suspension, enabling the striker to feature in Monday’s match.
The decision came after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly appealed directly to Infantino on Balogun’s behalf, prompting criticism from European lawmakers who say football’s governing body compromised the integrity of its own rules.
In a joint statement, Members of the European Parliament Barry Andrews, Lara Wolters and Niels Fuglsang described the decision as “a disgrace and a perversion of justice,” arguing that changing the application of red-card suspensions during an ongoing tournament undermines confidence in the sport’s disciplinary system.
The lawmakers are calling on football associations across European Union member states to urge FIFA’s Ethics Committee to examine Infantino’s conduct. They want investigators to determine whether political pressure from the Trump administration influenced the reversal of Balogun’s suspension and to assess what they describe as other possible violations of FIFA’s principle of political neutrality, including the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to Trump.
FIFA has maintained that the decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension was made independently by its disciplinary committee.
According to the lawmakers, support for the initiative is growing, with 35 members of the European Parliament already backing the proposal.
“The beauty of sport lies in the consistent and transparent application of its rules,” the statement said. “When political influence determines who is eligible to compete, the principle of fairness is fundamentally weakened.”
News
Sri Lanka dominate Ceylon Masters with 36 gold medals
Sri Lankan shuttle experts recorded a majestic dominance at the claiming a record overall tally of 137 medals at the CMB Masters International Badminton Championships 2026, successfully held at the AIR Sports Complex in Rajagiriya. Out of the total Sri Lanka won a straight tally of 101 medals through their experienced shuttlers, while the remaining 36 were added from collaborations in Doubles with shuttlers from other nations.
From the tally of 101, Sri Lanka claimed 22 gold, 27, silver and 52 bronze medals to lead the medals tally at the end of the five-day competition held with the participation of over 500 leading Masters’ shuttlers representing 15 countries. India finished overall second with 65 medals – 19 each of gold and silver and 27 bronze medals.
Malaysia finished behind at third with nine medals, three each of gold and bronze and a silver to their tally. Chinese Taipei, China, Nepal, Switzerland, UAE, France, Australia and Indonesia followed in behind one another to complete the medal board, while certain nations claimed medals from Doubles events collaborating with shuttlers from other countries.
Among the standout performers for Sri Lanka were Niroshan Wijekoon, Nadeesha Gayanthi, Renu Chandrika de Silva, Thushari Brahmanage, Niluka Karunaratne, Rohan de Silva, Hasitha Chanaka, Duminda Jayakody and Deshani Bandara, who were among a host of local players to produce outstanding performances throughout the tournament. Many of the leading Sri Lankan competitors are former national players who represented the country during their prime, while several are former national champions. Their continued success highlighted the depth of experience and enduring quality within Sri Lanka’s Masters badminton circuit.
The strong participation of overseas players also reflected the growing appeal of the event on the international calendar. Players from 15 countries competed in the championships, reinforcing Sri Lanka’s potential to develop sports tourism by hosting major international Masters events.
The CMB International Badminton Championships 2026, organised by Ceylon Masters Badminton (CMB), also received strong backing from the corporate sector. Some of the country’s leading companies, including McLarens Group, Mobil, Prime Group, 3M, Cool Max, Iodex, Li-Ning, Hundred, RovinAds, Seylan Bank, Sampath Bank, HNB Finance, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Mr. FixIt, McFoil and Elite Badminton, stepped forward as sponsors, playing a key role in the successful staging of the tournament.
Cricket
Sooryavanshi fireworks see India ‘A’ thump Sri Lanka to clinch title
A breathtaking assault from teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi powered India ‘A’ to a commanding 66-run victory over Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the final of the Tri-Series 2026, as the visitors lifted the title in emphatic fashion.
After being asked to bat, India ‘A’ piled up a daunting 377 for 9 in their 50 overs, thanks largely to Sooryavanshi’s explosive 94 off just 29 balls. The left-hander unleashed a stunning display of power-hitting, smashing 10 fours and eight sixes at a remarkable strike rate of 324.13.
Together with Priyansh Arya, who made a brisk 39, he put on 132 runs for the opening wicket in less than nine overs, leaving the Sri Lankan bowlers reeling.
Although Sooryavanshi fell agonisingly short of a century, India maintained the momentum through Ruturaj Gaikwad (40) and captain Tilak Varma, who anchored the middle overs with a well-compiled 67. Kumar Kushagra contributed 36, while Anukul Roy provided a late flourish with an unbeaten 39 from just 15 deliveries, including four sixes.
For Sri Lanka, Wanuja Sahan was the most economical bowler and claimed two wickets, while Ravindu Fernando and Kugathas Mathulan also picked up two scalps each.
Faced with a formidable target, Sri Lanka ‘A’ launched a spirited chase but were eventually bowled out for 311 in 47.1 overs. Sadeera Samarawickrama led the resistance with an attractive 52 off 44 balls, while Wanuja Sahan produced a fighting 62. Captain Sahan Arachchige chipped in with 38 and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth added 39, but the required rate continued to climb.
India’s bowlers struck at regular intervals, with Yash Thakur and Vipraj Nigam claiming three wickets apiece. Anukul Roy supported well with two wickets as Sri Lanka’s challenge faded in the closing stages.
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