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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…
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SLR Unveils National Coaching Staff for 2026 Season
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has officially named the coaching and support staff for the national XV-a-side and sevens teams ahead of the 2026 international rugby season, which begins next month with the tour of the New Zealand Under-85kg team to Sri Lanka.
Dushanth Lewke has been appointed as the Head Coach of the national XV-a-side squad for the upcoming international campaigns. He will be supported by forwards coach Henry Terance and assistant coach Lasintha De Costa. The team’s support staff will include Tharanga Premakumara as physiotherapist and Vishvamithra Jayasinghe overseeing strength and conditioning.
Lewke previously served as the forwards coach of the national XV-a-side team during the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship. He also enjoyed a highly successful domestic season, guiding his club CR & FC to a historic double by winning both the League title and the Clifford Cup.
Sri Lanka’s XV-a-side international calendar will begin with the New Zealand Under-85kg tour scheduled for April. Later in the year, Sri Lanka will compete in the Asia Rugby Top 4 tournament alongside South Korea, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
For the men’s sevens programme, Shamly Nawaz and Amjad Buksh have been appointed as co-coaches, while Dansha Dayan will join the setup as an intern coach. Dilan Zoysa will manage strength and conditioning responsibilities and Shafin Majid will serve as the team physiotherapist.

The women’s national programme will be led by head coach Leonard De Zilwa with M. Saldeen appointed as assistant coach. Nimesh De Silva will take on the role of team physiotherapist.
Cricket
92nd Battle of the Saints Set for March at SSC
The stage is set for one of Sri Lanka’s most cherished school cricket rivalries, as St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College prepare to renew their historic contest in the 92nd Battle of the Saints. The three-day encounter will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground on 19, 20 and 21 March, with the prestigious Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy up for grabs.
Adding to the excitement, the 52nd Joe–Pete Limited Overs Encounter for the Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai Trophy will take place on 25 April, also at SSC. Dialog Axiata PLC continues its proud tradition of powering this iconic fixture for the tenth consecutive year, underscoring its commitment to nurturing the champions of tomorrow.
This year, St. Joseph’s will be led by Rishma Amarasinghe, while St. Peter’s will take the field under Enosh Peterson, who starred as Man-of-the-Match in last year’s limited overs clash. The rivalry remains finely balanced: St. Joseph’s has 12 outright wins, their last in 2008, while St. Peter’s boasts 10, most recently in 2016. A remarkable 68 encounters have ended in draws, reflecting the competitive spirit that defines this fixture. The 2025 edition, contested as a three-day match for the first time, fittingly ended in a draw.
In the shorter format, St. Joseph’s holds a narrow edge with 25 victories compared to St. Peter’s 23, alongside two no-results and one tie. The 51st encounter saw St. Peter’s clinch a thrilling four-wicket win to retain the Rev. Fr. Peter A. Pillai Memorial Shield.
Beyond the numbers, both schools carry a proud legacy of producing cricketing greats who have represented Sri Lanka at the highest level. Josephian alumni include Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Dunith Wellalage, Thisara Perera, and Sadeera Samarawickrama, while Peterites have given the nation stars such as Roy Dias, Rumesh Ratnayake, Russel Arnold, Angelo Perera, and Janith Liyanage.
Speaking ahead of the match, Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo of St. Peter’s emphasized that the fixture represents more than competition, symbolizing brotherhood, character, and the highest standards of school cricket. Rev. Fr. Ranjith Andradi of St. Joseph’s echoed the sentiment, highlighting the values of discipline, teamwork, and fellowship that unite generations of players and supporters.
Dialog’s Group Chief Marketing Officer, Lasantha Thverapperuma, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Big Match season, calling it a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s sporting heritage and wishing both teams success in what promises to be another memorable chapter in this storied rivalry.
Cricket
LPL Player Draft Postponed Amid Middle East Tensions
The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 has encountered an unexpected delay, with organizers confirming that the highly anticipated player draft will not take place this month due to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. While the draft has been pushed back, the tournament itself remains firmly on schedule, set to run from 8 July to 8 August 2026.
Despite the setback, excitement around the sixth edition of the league continues to build. Several prominent international cricketers have already expressed their interest in participating, reinforcing the LPL’s growing stature in the global cricket calendar.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also exploring the possibility of expanding the list of venues for this year’s competition. The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo has emerged as a strong candidate following the installation of floodlights, which now allow the historic venue to host day-night fixtures. If included, SSC would join the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and Dambulla International Stadium, easing logistical challenges and giving fans in the capital another opportunity to witness the action.
Although no official confirmation has been made, discussions are ongoing, and SSC is increasingly seen as a likely addition to the venue lineup.
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