Connect with us

News

Kusal, Chameera available for selection

Published

on

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

KSCA Officials Resign Over Chinnaswamy Stampede; RCB Faces FIR in Tragic Victory Celebration Fallout

Published

on

By

In a tragic turn of events following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) historic IPL 2025 title win, a deadly stampede at the celebratory event held at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives and injured several others. The aftermath has sparked controversy and accountability issues, leading to major resignations and legal action.

Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam resigned on Friday, citing “moral responsibility” for the incident. Their resignations were submitted to KSCA president Raghuram Bhat, as questions mount over mismanagement and negligence at the overcrowded venue.

The Bengaluru Police have filed an FIR listing RCB, DNA Entertainment (event partner), and KSCA as accused parties. Police confirmed that the event had not been granted official permission. In a swift move, Nikhil Sosale, RCB’s head of marketing and revenue, was arrested—raising further scrutiny over organizational lapses.

KSCA has filed a writ petition calling the FIR a “knee-jerk” reaction under political pressure. They argued that crowd control and gate management were the responsibilities of RCB and the event organizers, not KSCA.

RCB has announced INR 10 lakh compensation for each victim and committed to covering all medical expenses of the injured. However, the franchise has yet to make a comprehensive public statement.

This incident raises serious concerns about sports event management and safety standards, casting a shadow over what was supposed to be a moment of celebration in Indian cricket

Continue Reading

Football

Asia Leads the Charge as 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Begin to Take Shape

Published

on

By

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.

Continue Reading

Cricket

Sachithra Senanayake Indicted in Landmark Match-Fixing Case Under Sri Lanka’s Anti-Corruption Law

Published

on

By

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

Continue Reading

Trending