News
Kusal, Chameera available for selection

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
Kamindu Mendis Shines as Sunrisers Hyderabad Break Chepauk Curse, Crush CSK’s Playoff Hopes | IPL 2025
Sri Lankan all-rounder Kamindu Mendis delivered under pressure, helping Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) script a historic first-ever win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium during the IPL 2025 season.
Chasing a tricky target of 155, Mendis played a composed and crucial unbeaten knock of 32 off 22 balls, stitching an unbroken 49-run partnership with Nitish Kumar to seal a five-wicket victory with eight balls to spare. His calm presence at the crease when the game was delicately poised underlined his growing stature in T20 cricket.
Earlier, the Chennai Super Kings, once invincible at home, continued their disastrous 2025 campaign — suffering a fourth consecutive home defeat. Batting first, CSK stumbled despite a promising start, collapsing to 154 all out. Dewald Brevis impressed briefly on debut with a quickfire 42 runs, but it was Harshal Patel’s brilliant spell (4 wickets for 28 runs) that broke CSK’s backbone.
For CSK, promising youngster Ayush Mhatre shone early, but a middle-order collapse proved costly. Even skipper M.S. Dhoni’s tactical gamble of giving Sam Curran two overs backfired, as SRH batters capitalized to turn the game.
In the SRH chase, despite early hiccups — losing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head quickly — Ishan Kishan’s fluent 44 and Kamindu Mendis’ finishing touch ensured Hyderabad stayed alive in the playoff race.
Meanwhile, in the updated IPL 2025 points table, Sunrisers Hyderabad now sits 8th with 6 points, while CSK languishes at the bottom with just 4 points from 9 games, effectively ending their playoff dreams.
Mendis’ all-round contribution, including a key wicket earlier, and his coolness in the chase were pivotal. While Harshal Patel deservedly took the Player of the Match award, Sri Lanka can proudly celebrate Kamindu’s evolving prowess on the IPL stage.
Points Table Update (After SRH vs CSK Match):
- GT, DC, and RCB are leading the race with 12 points each.
- PBKS and MI are close behind with 11 and 10 points.
- CSK and RR are at the bottom with just 4 points, all but knocked out of the playoffs.
News
Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama Shine at 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam
Sri Lanka’s promising golf talents Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama showcased their growing international class with stellar performances at the prestigious 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, held at the stunning Laguna Golf Lang Co in Vietnam.
Facing off against the finest junior golfers from the Asia-Pacific region—including representatives from Australia, England, Japan, India, and Wales—both Kaya and Reshan rose to the occasion, underlining Sri Lanka’s emerging strength in the sport.
Kaya Daluwatte delivered one of her career-best performances, finishing as the runner-up in the Girls’ Under-16 category. After three composed rounds, she posted a remarkable final score of even-par 216, highlighted by an impressive 2-under-par finish in the final round. Despite Japan’s Al Goto clinching the title with a score of 213, Kaya’s climb up the leaderboard captured widespread admiration. Her poise, precision, and birdies during the crucial back-nine holes showcased a maturity well beyond her years.
This runner-up finish at one of Asia’s top junior championships marks a historic achievement for Sri Lankan golf, signaling that the nation’s junior golfers are ready to challenge the region’s traditional powerhouses.
In the Boys’ Under-16 category, Reshan Algama also left his mark by securing a strong fourth-place finish with a gross score of 218. Although his final round did not match the brilliance of his earlier efforts, Reshan displayed commendable composure against a highly competitive international field. His consistency across top-level tournaments reflects his rapid development into a serious contender on the global junior golf circuit.
Vietnam’s Tuan Anh Nguyen dominated the Boys’ division, leading from start to finish to claim the title with a superb score of 205. India’s Arshvant Srivastava and Kanav Chauhan finished second and third, with scores of 214 and 216 respectively.
Kaya and Reshan’s performances not only bring pride to Sri Lanka but also signal a bright future for the country’s junior golfing scene on the Asian stage.
Football
SAFF Championship Postponement Exposes Deeper Issues Within FFSL
The much-anticipated SAFF Championship, originally scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in July 2025, has now been officially postponed to 2026—a move that has raised serious concerns over the competence and credibility of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL).
According to the SAFF Executive Committee, the decision to delay the tournament stemmed largely from pressure exerted by its marketing partner, Sportfive, which advocated for a home-and-away format to increase commercial value. Furthermore, it is reported that Sportfive preferred the event be hosted in Bangladesh or India, citing better sponsor access and commercial feasibility in those countries if the tournament were to follow a centralized model.
However, beyond external pressure, this development highlights a troubling reality: the FFSL’s inability to effectively organize and defend Sri Lanka’s hosting rights on the international stage. This isn’t merely a scheduling issue—it reflects a deeper pattern of administrative shortcomings, lack of vision, and prioritization of media narratives over tangible development.
As previously reported by Sri Lankan Sports TV, the FFSL continues to focus more on optics and media stunts rather than on the foundational work required to uplift football in the country. The failure to safeguard Sri Lanka’s opportunity to host a major regional tournament not only affects the sport’s growth domestically but also damages the nation’s reputation within South Asian football.
For a federation that has long promised reform and transparency, this latest setback exposes how little progress has actually been made. When commercial partners have more sway than the national football body itself, it’s a clear indication that local football governance is being undermined by weak leadership and poor planning.
This should be a wake-up call—not just for the FFSL, but for every stakeholder invested in the future of Sri Lankan football. The time for slogans and staged announcements is over. Sri Lanka needs action, accountability, and genuine commitment to building a sustainable footballing culture. Until then, headlines like this will only continue to reflect a sport lost in mismanagement.
-
Live4 years ago
Live Broadcast of Syria vs Sri Lanka | AFC U23 Asian Championship Qualification
-
Football2 months ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2025: Super 8 Fixtures and Grouping
-
Football3 months ago
FFSL Rebrands Division-1 as ‘League-One’ with a Bold New Vision
-
Cricket3 months ago
Sri Lanka vs Australia 2nd Test: Spin to Dominate as Galle Pitch Set to Turn
-
Football2 months ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2024: Super Eight Round Concludes – Semifinalists Confirmed!
-
News3 months ago
2025 Schools Rugby Season Set to Thrill Fans with Knockout and League Action
-
Football3 months ago
Erling Haaland Signs Record-Breaking 9.5-Year Contract Extension with Manchester City
-
News4 years ago
We are Back