News
Sri Lankan Lions who dominated the IPL
The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the actual inaugural edition of the Twenty20 League Cricket Tournament, essentially concluded yesterday with the inaugural Gujarat Titans emerging champions. This season of the Indian Premier League, which generally has attracted the attention of cricket fans all over the world, our players have been able to take Sri Lanka’s pride to the international level once again in a magnificent way. From here, we bring you an article to essentially appreciate the performance of the Sri Lankan players in this year’s Indian Premier League.
Cricket commentators for the most part have been focusing on Sri Lankan players since the Indian Premier League player auction, contrary to popular belief. Wanidu Hasaranga, who essentially has been a revolutionary player in the international arena for the past 20 years, essentially has joined the sort of Royal Challengers Bangalore team for a hefty sum at this year’s auction, contrary to popular belief. In addition, fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants while other Sri Lankan players Maheesh Theekshana were selected for the Chennai team, Bhanuka Rajapaksa for the Punjab team and Chamika Karunaratne for the Kolkata Knight Riders team. The inclusion of Matheesha Pathirana, a young fast bowler who has not yet been selected for international cricket, in the Chennai Super Kings squad for a replacement also bodes well for the future of Sri Lankan cricket. Wanidu Hasaranga, one of the leading international Twenty20 bowlers last season, proved his mettle by becoming the second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament this year. Wanidu Hasaranga, unfortunately, lost his highest wicket-taker purple helmet after a tense battle with Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal but managed to take 26 wickets throughout the tournament. Wanidu Hasaranga took five wickets for 18 essentially runs in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Vanidu’s general spin partner Maheesh Theekshana has taken 12 wickets in nine IPL definite matches to mostly become the third very much the highest wicket-taker for the Chennai basically, Super Kings which is a real fair significant.
Dushmantha Chameera, the most powerful foreign fast bowler in the Lucknow basically Super Giants team, also took 9 wickets in this tournament generally, contrary to a popular belief. Certainly, a few years later a Sri Lankan batsman was definitely spotted in the Indian Premier League in a subtle way. Middle-order left-hander Bhanuka Rajapaksa mostly scored 206 really runs in nine matches for the Punjab Kings this season with an attacking pace of around 160 in a subtle way. Matheesha Pathirana took two wickets in his first two matches, signalling the future of Sri Lankan cricket. It is our sincere mostly wish as Sri Lankan citizens that Sri Lankan lions will generally be able to precisely carry the name of Sri Lanka to the world and literally continue to particularly maintain the very basic generally excel in the Indian Premier League next year.
IPL පිටියේ ජය කෙහෙලි නැංවූ සිංහ පුතුන් !!!
විස්සයි විස්ස ලීග් ක්‍රිකට් ආකෘතියේ මෞලීය මංගල්‍යය බදු ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරගාවලියේ අභිමානවත් පහළොස්වන අදියර ඊයේ දිනයේදී නිමාවට පත් වූයේ IPL පිටියට කුලුදුල් ගුජරාට් ටයිටන්ස් කණ්ඩායම ශූරයන් ලෙසින් කිරුලු පලන්දවමිනි. ලොව පුරා ක්‍රිකට් ප්‍රේක්ෂකයන්ගේ අවදානය දිනාගත් ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරගාවලියේ මෙවර තරග වාරය තුළදී ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය අභිමානය යළිත් වරක් ජාත්‍යන්තරය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාමට අප ක්‍රීඩකයන් සමත්කම් දැක්වීය. මෙවර ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරගාවලියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩකයන් දැක්වූ දක්ෂතා ඇගයීම උදෙසා අප ගෙන එන ලිපියක් මෙතැන් පටන්….
ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරගාවලියේ ක්‍රීඩක වෙන්දේසියේ පටන් ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ක්‍රීඩකයන් කෙරෙහි ක්‍රිකට් විචාරකයන්ගේ අවධානය යොමු විය. පසුගිය කාලසීමාව තුළ විස්සයි විස්ස ජාත්‍යන්තර පිටියේ පෙරලිකාර දස්කම් පෑ වනිදු හසරංග මෙවර ක්‍රීඩක වෙන්දේසියෙහිදී දැවැන්ත මුදලකට රෝයල් චැලේන්ජර්ස් බැංගලෝර් කණ්ඩායමට එක් කොට ගැනුණි. මීට අමතරව වේගපන්දු යවන ක්‍රීඩක දුෂ්මන්ත චමීර ලක්නව් සුපර් ජයන්ට්ස් කණ්ඩායම විසින් මිළදී ගනිද්දී සෙසු ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩකයන් වූ මහීෂ් තීක්ෂණ චෙන්නායි කණ්ඩායමටද ,භානුක රාජපක්ෂ පන්ජාබ් කණ්ඩායමට හා චාමික කරුණාරත්න, කොල්කටා නයිට්‍රයිඩර්ස් කණ්ඩායමට තෝරා ගැනුණි. තවමත් ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් වරම් නොලද වේගපන්දු යවන යොවුන් ක්‍රීඩක මතීෂ පතිරණද ක්‍රීඩක ආදේශනයක් වෙනුවෙන් චෙන්නායි සුපර් කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායමට එක් කොට ගැනීමද ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් අනාගතය පිළිබඳව සුබදායී ලකුණු පෙන්නුම් කරන්නට විය.
පසුගිය සමයේදී ජාත්‍යන්තර විස්සයි විස්ස පන්දු යවන්නන් අතරෙහි ප්‍රමුඛයා ලෙසින් වැජබුනු වනිදු හසරංග, තමා විශිෂ්ඨයෙකු බවට තවදුරටත් සනාථ කළේ මෙවර තරගාවලියේ දෙවන වැඩිම කඩුලු ලාභියා බවට පත් වෙමිනි. ඉන්දීය දගපන්දු යවන ක්‍රීඩක යුෂ්වේන්‍ද්‍රන් චහල් සමග තියුණු සටනකින් අනතුරුව වැඩිම කඩුලු ලාභියාට හිමි දම්පැහැති හිස්වැසුම අවාසනාවන්ත ලෙසින් වනිදු හසරංගට අහිමි වුවද තරගාවලිය පුරාවට කඩුලු 26ක් බිදහෙලමින් දස්කම් පාන්නට ඔහුට හැකිවිය. විස්සයි විස්ස පිටියේ සිය හොදම පන්දු යැවීම වාර්තා කරන්නට වනිදු හසරංග සමත් වූයේ සන්රයිසස් හයිද්‍රාබාද් කණ්ඩායම සමග පැවති තරගයේදී ලකුණු 18කට කඩුලු 5ක් බිදහෙලමිනි. ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ වනිදුගේ දගපන්දු සගයා වන මහීෂ් තීක්ෂණ මෙවර IPL තරගාවලියේ තරග 9කට ක්‍රීඩා කරමින් කඩුලු 12ක් බිදහෙලූයේ චෙන්නායි සුපර් කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායම වෙනුවෙන් තෙවන වැඩිම කඩුලු ලාභියා බවට පත් වෙමිනි.
ලක්නව් සුපර් ජයන්ට්ස් කණ්ඩායම සතුවූ ප්‍රබලතම විදෙස් වේගපන්දු යවන්නා වූ දුෂ්මන්ත චමීරද මෙවර තරගාවලියේදී කඩුලු 9ක් බිදහෙලන්නට සමත් විය. වසර කිහිපයකට පසු ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිතිකරුවකු ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් පිටිය තුළ දැකගන්නට අවකාශය හිමි විය .මැදපෙළ වමත් පිතිකරු භානුක රාජපක්ෂ මෙවර පන්ජාබ් කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායම නියෝජනය කරමින් තරග 9ක් තුළදී ලකුණු 206ක් රැස්කළේ 160ක පමණ ප්‍රහාරාත්මක වේගයක් රදවා ගනිමිනි. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් අනාගතය පිළිබදව සුබදායක සලකුණු පළ කරමින් තමා ක්‍රීඩා කළ පළමු තරග ද්විත්වයේදී කඩුලු 2ක් බිදහෙලන්නට යොවුන් ක්‍රීඩක මතීෂ පතිරණ සමත්කම් දැක්වීය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාමය ලොවක් ඉදිරියට ගෙන යමින් එළඹෙන වසරේදීත් ඉන්දීය ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරගාවලිය තුළ තවත් දස්කම් පාන්නට සිංහ පුතුනට හැකියාව ලැබේවායි යන්න අපගේ ඒකායන පැතුමයි…
Sri Lanka’s national football team has achieved a notable improvement in the latest FIFA World Rankings, marking a rare moment of positivity for the sport in the country. The team, now sitting at 193rd, has shown visible progress — yet, this rise raises important questions about the long-term future of Sri Lankan football.
Origin Players Driving Success
Out of the starting 11 players, 10 are foreign-born origin players, with only the goalkeeper captain being Sri Lankan-born. While this approach has strengthened the squad and delivered quick international results, it highlights a deeper issue — the lack of local football development and competitive tournaments at home.
In the absence of consistent domestic competitions, Sri Lanka’s international performances are being carried by overseas talent. This has sparked debate within the football community: is the FFSL relying too heavily on short-term solutions rather than investing in sustainable growth?
Absence of Local Structure
For the past few years, no major national tournaments have been held at the senior level. The lack of a structured league and proper youth pathway continues to limit opportunities for local players. Without regular match experience and grassroots exposure, emerging talent struggles to reach the international stage.
Glimpses of Hope – Lifebuoy Ball Blaster 2025 & Grassroots Push
However, there are signs of renewal. Across the country, small-scale academies tournaments are taking shape — often organized with assistance from the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL).
Among the most significant initiatives is the Lifebuoy Ball Blaster 2025 Schools Football Tournament, organised in collaboration with Sri Lankan Sports TV and the School Football Association. Although it faced early administrative hurdles with FFSL, the event was successfully negotiated and is now underway as planned, providing a crucial platform for school-level footballers to showcase their potential.
This partnership-driven approach reflects a growing understanding that grassroots and school tournaments are the foundation for long-term success. If nurtured properly, they could help produce the next generation of Sri Lankan-born football stars — reducing the dependency on foreign-origin players in the future.
The Way Forward
While the ranking rise brings optimism, experts caution that sustainable progress will only come through systematic development, transparent governance, and strong youth structures. The FFSL must focus on building a local ecosystem that nurtures homegrown talent, ensuring that the future of Sri Lankan football is not built solely on temporary fixes but on lasting foundations.
Football
Zahira College Colombo Dominate Group A — Gampola Zahira and Darussalam Battle for Second Spot
The Group A stage of the Lifebuoy Ball Blaster 2025 Schools Football Championship is heating up, with Zahira College Colombo emerging as the clear frontrunner after an unbeaten run in their first two matches. With six points and an impressive 8–2 goal difference, Zahira are well on course to top the group and secure a direct berth to the quarterfinals.
Zahira’s attacking flair and tactical balance have made them one of the most complete teams in this year’s tournament. Their consistent performances have set the tone in Group A, making them strong contenders for the overall title.
Behind them, the battle for the second qualifying spot is intensifying between Darussalam College and Gampola Zahira College. Both teams currently sit on three points each, but Darussalam have played one match more, leaving Gampola Zahira with a crucial game in hand.
Kingswood College, despite showing moments of promise, have struggled to convert opportunities into results and remain winless after three outings.
With two group matches remaining, the race for quarterfinal qualification is expected to go down to the wire. Zahira Colombo, the current Group A leader, will likely face Vaddakkachchi Central College (D2) from Group D in the knockout stage, while the second-placed team will meet Hameed Al Husseinie College (D1) — setting up thrilling contests ahead.
| School | M | W | L | D | GS | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zahira College, Colombo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 6 |
| Gampola Zahira College | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Darussalam College | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Kingswood College | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 13 | -8 | 0 |
Football
Hameed Al Husseinie and Vaddakkachchi Central March into Quarterfinals of Ball Blaster 2025
The Group D stage of the Lifebuoy Ball Blaster 2025 Schools Football Championship concluded with Hameed Al Husseinie College and Vaddakkachchi Central College sealing their spots in the quarterfinals after a fiercely contested round of matches.
Hameed Al Husseinie topped the group with an unbeaten record, securing 7 points from three matches, including two wins and one draw. Their dominance was evident with a commanding 9 goals scored while conceding only one — showcasing a solid attacking unit and disciplined defense.
Vaddakkachchi Central College earned the second qualification spot with 5 points, winning one and drawing two matches. Despite a lower goal tally of five, their consistency and composure under pressure helped them edge out Baduriya College, who finished third with four points.
Al-Falah College, meanwhile, struggled to find rhythm throughout the group stage, finishing at the bottom without a win.
According to the tournament structure, Group D winner Hameed Al Husseinie College (D1) will face Group A runner-up (A2) in the quarterfinals, while Vaddakkachchi Central (D2) will meet Group A winner, most probably Zahira College Colombo (A1) — a clash that promises thrilling football action.
As the competition intensifies, both qualifying teams from Group D will be looking to carry their momentum into the knockout rounds and make a strong statement in their quest for the prestigious Lifebuoy Ball Blaster Championship 2025 title.
🏅 Final Group D Standings
| School | MP | W | L | D | GS | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hameed Al Husseinie College | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 7 |
| Vaddakkachchi Central College | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 |
| Baduriya College | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| Al-Falah College | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | -9 | 0 |
Sri Lanka Climbs FIFA Rankings — But Can “Origin-Only” Strategy Deliver Long-Term Success?
Zahira College Colombo Dominate Group A — Gampola Zahira and Darussalam Battle for Second Spot
Hameed Al Husseinie and Vaddakkachchi Central March into Quarterfinals of Ball Blaster 2025
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2025: Super 8 Fixtures and Grouping
Live Broadcast of Syria vs Sri Lanka | AFC U23 Asian Championship Qualification
2025 Schools Rugby Season Set to Thrill Fans with Knockout and League Action
Date with Sporty – EPI 04 | Ft. Praveena Perera | Sri Lankan National Football Player | Saraa | DWS
Date with Sporty – Ep 03 | Ft. Uvindu Jayasinghe | Power lifting | 310Kg Beast Mode with Saara
EPISODE 02 – Featuring Anjalika Diyawadena🎖️ Sri Lanka National Karate Champion
-
Football8 months agoSri Lanka Schools National Championship 2025: Super 8 Fixtures and Grouping
-
Live4 years ago
Live Broadcast of Syria vs Sri Lanka | AFC U23 Asian Championship Qualification
-
News9 months ago2025 Schools Rugby Season Set to Thrill Fans with Knockout and League Action
-
Cricket5 months agoNuwan Thushara Shines as RCB Storms into IPL 2025 Final
-
Football9 months agoFFSL Rebrands Division-1 as ‘League-One’ with a Bold New Vision
-
News5 months agoMajor Shake-Up in Sports Governance: New 2025 Regulations Reform National Sports Bodies in Sri Lanka
-
Football6 months agoSri Lanka Announces U19 Football Squad for SAFF Championship 2025
-
Cricket9 months agoSri Lanka’s Greatest Cricketers: Top Batters and Bowlers of All Time