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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.
Football
Asia Leads the Charge as 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Begin to Take Shape
The road to the historic 2026 FIFA World Cup is gaining momentum, and Asia is already making its mark on football’s grandest stage. With an expanded format featuring 48 teams and co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this edition promises to be the most inclusive and diverse yet — and Asia is stepping up early.
🇯🇵 Japan Sets the Benchmark for Asia
Japan was the first nation worldwide to book their ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, underscoring their dominance in Asian football. Unbeaten in their qualifying campaign with six wins and one draw, the Samurai Blue continue to be the standard-bearers for the continent.
🇮🇷 Iran Continues Consistent Form
Iran soon followed Japan, securing their seventh overall World Cup appearance and fourth consecutive berth. The team remained undefeated in their group, showcasing the experience and tactical depth that has made them a fixture on the world stage.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan Makes Historic Debut
In one of the most emotional stories of the qualifiers so far, Uzbekistan qualified for their first-ever FIFA World Cup. A gritty 0-0 draw against the UAE was enough for the Central Asian side to clinch a spot, sparking nationwide celebrations. Their rise highlights the growing strength of second-tier Asian nations on the global stage.
Asia’s Presence Grows in 2026 Format
Asia is guaranteed eight slots in the 2026 World Cup — a significant jump from previous editions — allowing the region to showcase more talent, depth, and emerging football powerhouses. With teams like South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Australia still in the hunt, the continent could make a serious impact come 2026.
Global Context
The tournament’s expanded format and host countries in North America mark a new era for international football. With 104 matches, 16 host cities, and an increased number of participants, it will be a celebration of global diversity — and Asian nations are ready to shine.
Countries Qualified So Far
- Asia: 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇮🇷 Iran, 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
- Oceania: 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- South America: 🇦🇷 Argentina
(Additional qualifiers from other confederations are ongoing.)
As the countdown to 2026 begins, all eyes are on Asia’s rising stars — ready to challenge the world and redefine the future of football.
Cricket
Sachithra Senanayake Indicted in Landmark Match-Fixing Case Under Sri Lanka’s Anti-Corruption Law
Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sachithra Senanayake has been formally indicted before the Hambantota High Court, marking a historic first in Sri Lanka’s efforts to criminalize corruption in sports. The charges stem from an alleged match-fixing attempt during the 2020 Lanka Premier League (LPL), making Senanayake the first player to face prosecution under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Offences Related to Sports Act No. 24 of 2019.
Senanayake, currently out on bail, is accused of attempting to influence Colombo Kings player Tharindu Ratnayake to underperform during the tournament. The incident reportedly occurred via a WhatsApp message, which was later flagged by a local anti-corruption officer, prompting an official investigation in 2020.
The case falls under the landmark legislation introduced in 2019 by then Sports Minister Harin Fernando, which criminalizes match-fixing and related offenses in the country. If convicted, Senanayake could face a prison term of up to 10 years, a fine reaching Rs. 100 million, or both.
The indictment signals a serious shift in Sri Lanka’s approach to tackling corruption in sports. Authorities hope this high-profile case will serve as a strong deterrent against similar offenses in the future.
Senanayake, once a celebrated off-spinner and a member of Sri Lanka’s victorious 2014 ICC T20 World Cup squad, now faces the grim prospect of being remembered not for his achievements on the field, but for his role in one of Sri Lanka’s most significant match-fixing scandals.
As the case unfolds, it casts a spotlight on the broader issue of corruption in sports and reinforces the urgent need for integrity, vigilance, and transparent governance across all levels of competition in Sri Lanka
Cricket
Harbhajan Singh Criticizes Jayawardene and Malinga for Over-Involvement in MI Dugout During IPL Qualifier
In a surprising turn of events during IPL 2025 Qualifier 2, cricket legend and former Mumbai Indians player Harbhajan Singh has voiced concern over what he termed “excessive involvement” by Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga during Mumbai Indians’ defeat against Punjab Kings.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after MI’s seven-wicket loss at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Harbhajan took issue with the coaching staff’s frequent instructions from the dugout — especially during tense moments when MI bowlers were under pressure.
Too many signals, too much talking — even with someone like Jasprit Bumrah, who knows exactly what he’s doing,” Harbhajan remarked. “At times, you need a calm and collected environment, especially during high-pressure games. Coaches should guide, not command every move from the sidelines.
Punjab Kings chased down a formidable target of 204, with captain Shreyas Iyer anchoring the innings with an unbeaten 87 to secure a place in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Despite Mumbai posting a solid total, their bowlers failed to contain the opposition — a point that Harbhajan feels may have been worsened by the atmosphere in the MI dugout.
Jayawardene, MI’s Head of Global Performance, and Malinga, the bowling coach, were both seen actively engaging with players during the game, a move Harbhajan believes may have unintentionally undermined the confidence of seasoned campaigners like Bumrah.
I’ve been part of that setup. The coaching staff means well, but showing visible desperation can impact player morale,
Harbhajan added.
With this loss, Mumbai Indians miss out on a shot at their sixth IPL title, while discussions surrounding the balance between guidance and over-coaching during matches are sure to continue
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