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Kusal, Chameera available for selection

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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

Rising Middle East Tensions Cast Doubt on Sri Lanka–Afghanistan Series in UAE

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Sri Lanka’s upcoming white-ball series against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates is facing uncertainty amid escalating tensions in parts of the Middle East.

The tour, scheduled from March 13 to 25, includes three T20 Internationals in Sharjah and three One Day Internationals in Dubai. However, growing regional instability has raised concerns over security, travel logistics, and overall feasibility.

Recent developments in the region have prompted several airlines to suspend or adjust services near key transport corridors, creating additional challenges for team travel and operational planning.

Sri Lanka Cricket is understood to be closely monitoring the evolving situation, with player and staff safety remaining the top priority. Should conditions fail to stabilize, the board may be compelled to reconsider or postpone the tour. Afghanistan could also encounter logistical difficulties under the current circumstances.

The series was viewed as important preparation for both teams ahead of a demanding international schedule. Sri Lanka were expected to assess emerging talent in white-ball formats, while Afghanistan aimed to consolidate momentum from recent performances.

With regional tensions continuing to unfold, a final decision regarding the series is anticipated in the coming days. Until then, the tour remains uncertain, highlighting how external factors can impact the international cricket calendar.

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Jonathan Trott to replace Sanath Jayasuriya as Sri Lanka Head Coach?

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Jonathan Trott, the former England batter who recently concluded his tenure as Afghanistan’s head coach, has emerged as the leading contender to succeed Sanath Jayasuriya as Sri Lanka’s national head coach, it is learnt.

Jayasuriya had earlier indicated his intention to step down, prompting Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to initiate the process of identifying a successor. However, an official announcement regarding the transition has yet to be made.

Trott’s name has quickly moved to the forefront of discussions, with his recent international coaching experience viewed as a valuable asset during what is expected to be a rebuilding phase for Sri Lanka. In the interim, SLC is considering appointing a temporary coach to oversee the upcoming Afghanistan series while deliberations continue.

The push for change follows Sri Lanka’s disappointing campaign at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted with India, where the team failed to secure a win in the Super 8 stage. The result has intensified calls for structural and strategic adjustments within both the playing group and support staff.

Despite the anticipated changes in the coaching setup, selectors are expected to retain Dasun Shanaka as T20 captain, indicating continued confidence in his leadership moving forward.

While no formal decision has been confirmed, Trott’s emergence as the frontrunner signals that Sri Lanka Cricket may be preparing for a new direction as the national team looks to regroup and rebuild.

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ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026: Semi-Final Line-Up Confirmed as Tournament Heads for Grandstand Finish

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The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has reached its decisive stage, with the Super Eights battles now complete and four teams emerging as semi-finalists after weeks of high-intensity cricket across Sri Lanka and India.

How the Tournament Progressed

The group stages delivered early drama. Zimbabwe stunned traditional heavyweights to top Group B, while Sri Lanka showed strong form in the first round with three wins in four matches before faltering in the Super Eights. India, South Africa, West Indies and England all looked dominant in patches, setting up a thrilling knockout race.

Super Eights – Group 1 Review

South Africa finished unbeaten with three wins from three matches and an impressive Net Run Rate of 2.259, showcasing balance in both departments.

India recovered from an early setback to finish second with two wins. Despite identical “For” and “Against” figures (566 runs each), India edged through on points.

West Indies and Zimbabwe fell short despite competitive performances.

Qualified from Group 1:
✔ South Africa
✔ India

Super Eights – Group 2 Review

England were clinical, winning all three matches and topping the group with six points.

New Zealand and Pakistan both finished on three points, but New Zealand advanced courtesy of a superior Net Run Rate (1.390 compared to Pakistan’s -0.123).

Sri Lanka endured a difficult Super Eights campaign, finishing without a win.

Qualified from Group 2:
✔ England
✔ New Zealand

Confirmed Semi-Finalists

  • South Africa
  • India
  • England
  • New Zealand

Standout Performers of the Tournament

Batting Impact

  • Sahibzada Farhan (Pakistan) – 383 runs
  • Shimron Hetmyer (West Indies) – 248 runs
  • Harry Brook (England) – 228 runs

Bowling Impact

  • Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe) – 13 wickets
  • Lungi Ngidi (South Africa) – 12 wickets
  • Jofra Archer (England) – 10 wickets

All-round contributions have been key, with Jason Holder and Will Jacks also ranking high in overall impact metrics.

Semi-Final Preview & Predicted Finalists

South Africa vs New Zealand

South Africa have been the most consistent team in the tournament. Their unbeaten Super Eight run and strong bowling unit give them a slight edge. However, New Zealand’s ability to handle pressure games makes this a tactical battle.

Prediction: South Africa hold a narrow advantage.

England vs India

This promises to be a blockbuster encounter. England’s aggressive batting and disciplined bowling make them formidable, but India’s depth and big-match temperament could tilt the contest.

Prediction: India vs England is too close to call, but India’s batting depth may prove decisive.

Predicted Final

South Africa vs India

South Africa’s bowling efficiency combined with India’s explosive batting lineup could set up a high-scoring and tactical grand finale.

As the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 heads into the knockout stage, the margins are razor-thin. One over, one spell, or one individual brilliance could define who lifts the trophy.

Stay tuned to Sri Lankan Sports TV for full semi-final coverage, expert analysis and post-match breakdowns.

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