News
Saud Shakeel’s double ton put Pakistan in the driving seat at the stumps on day 3
Saud Shakeel’s brilliant double century has put Pakistan in a brilliant position against Sri Lanka at the stumps on Day 3 of the first Test in Galle.
Shakeel scored an unbeaten 208* as Pakistan reached 461 in the first innings.
Pakistan started the Day with Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel at the crease after ending Day 2 with a crucial partnership. They extended it further and at a good rate as well. Shakeel registered a fine hundred but they lost Salman in the same over who missed out on his century. However, that did not affect Shakeel one bit as he went on to build up two more big stands, one with Nauman Ali of 52 runs and then a huge one of 94 with Naseem Shah who showed great resistance which put the hosts on the back foot as they conceded a massive lead. Shakeel batted almost throughout the Day and completed his maiden double-hundred as well.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be very disappointed with their bowling effort. Galle is a ground where their spinner has a lot to say but that was not the case on day 3. They were not able to pick up wickets at regular intervals and let the visitors get away. It was the same old story for them as they struggled to get through the lower middle order as the last five wickets for Pakistan cost them 360 runs which is a lot. Their catching was poor as well as they dropped Saud Shakeel twice which has made a big impact in this Test. However, Ramesh Mendis was the pick of the bowlers and took a five-for as they managed to bowl out visitors in the last session.
Sri Lanka in their second innings, reached 14/0 at Stumps, trailing Pakistan by 135 runs. Earlier in the first innings Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for 312 before the lunch was taken on Day 2.
The match will continue today for day 4.
සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ ද්විත්ව ශතකයෙන් පාකිස්තානයට තෙවන දිනයේ දි වැඩි ගෞරව.
සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ විශිෂ්ට ද්විත්ව ශතකය හේතුවෙන් ගාල්ලේදී පැවැත්වෙන පළමු ටෙස්ට් තරගයේ 3 වන දිනය වන විට ශ්රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව පාකිස්තානු පළමු ඉනිම ඉහළ මට්ටමකට ගෙන ඒමට සමත් විය.
ශකීල් නොදැවී ලකුණු 208*ක් ලබා ගත් අතර පාකිස්තාන පළමු ඉනිම ලකුණු 461කට ළඟා විය.
පාකිස්තානය දිනය ආරම්භ කළේ ආගා සල්මාන් සහ සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවැනි දිනය නිමා කිරීමෙන් පසු තීරණාත්මක සබඳතාවයක් සමඟින් ක්රීඩා කරමිනි. ඔවුන් එය තව දුරටත් දිගු කළ අතර හොඳ වේගයකින්ද විය. ශකීල් ශතකයක් වාර්තා කළ නමුත් ඔහුට එම ඕවරයේදීම සල්මාන් අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ ශතකය අහිමි විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ෂකීල්ට එය නොතකා තවත් සබඳතාවයක් ගොඩනැගූ අතර, එකක් නවමන් අලි ලකුණු 52 කින් සහ පසුව ලකුණු 94 න් දැවැන්ත සබඳතාවයක්න සීම් ෂා සමඟින් ගොඩනැගුවේය. ඔවුන්ගේ මනා සහයෝගයෙන් ශකීල් දවස පුරා පාහේ පන්දුවට පහර දුන් අතර ඔහුගේ මංගල ද්විත්ව ශතකයද සම්පූර්ණ කළේය.
අනෙක් අතට ශ්රී ලංකාව ඔවුන්ගේ පන්දු යැවීමේ උත්සාහය ගැන දැඩි කලකිරීමකට පත්වනු ඇත. ගාල්ල යනු ඔවුන්ගේ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන්ට කීමට බොහෝ දේ ඇති පිටියක් වන නමුත් 3 වන දින එය එසේ නොවීය. ඔවුන්ට නියමිත කාල පරතරයන්හිදී කඩුලු ලබා ගැනීමට නොහැකි විය. පාකිස්තානය වෙනුවෙන් අවසන් කඩුලු 5 දැවී ලකුණු 360ක් වැය වූ බැවින් පහළ මැදපෙළ පසුකර යාමට ඔවුන් දැරූ උත්සාහය ඔවුන්ටද පරණ කතාවම විය. ඔවුන්ගේ උඩපන්දුව දුර්වල වූ අතර ඔවුන් සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවරක්ම දවා ගැනීමට වූ අවස්තා මගහැරී ගිය අතර එය මෙම ටෙස්ට් තරගයට විශාල බලපෑමක් කර ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, රමේෂ් මෙන්ඩිස් පන්දු යවන්නන්ගේ තේරීම වූ අතර අවසන් සැසියේදී කඩුළු දවාලීමට ඔහු සමත් වූ හෙයින් කඩුලු 5ක් ද ලබා ගත්තේය.
ශ්රී ලංකාව සිය දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී පාකිස්තානයට වඩා ලකුණු 135ක් පසුපසින් සිටිමින් තරගය නතර කරන විට ලකුණු 14/0ක් ලබා සිටියේය. දෙවැනි දිනයට දිවා ආහාරය ගැනීමට පෙර පාකිස්තානය පළමු ඉනිමේදී ශ්රී ලංකාව ලකුණු 312 කට දැවී ගියේය.
තරගය අද 4 වැනි දිනයටත් පැවැත්වේ.
Football
I League 2025: New Star SC Breaks Silence on Mohamed Sahi Transfer Dispute
Club Claims Legal Ownership of Player and Denies Any Tie with Crystal Palace FC Gampola
Colombo – June 16, 2025:
New Star Sports Club has issued an official clarification to Sri Lankan Sports TV in response to recent allegations raised over the eligibility of player Mohamed Sahi, who appeared for them in the ongoing I League 2025.
The controversy began when Crystal Palace FC Gampola claimed the player had been part of their club and was not officially released to play for another side. However, New Star SC has now provided a detailed counter-statement, presenting what they claim is a legitimate and documented timeline of events.
Timeline of the Transfer (According to New Star SC)
- January 15, 2025: Mohamed Sahi was officially released by his previous club Eravur YSS.
- January 16, 2025: He signed a one-year contract with New Star SC for the 2025/26 season for a fee of Rs. 85,000. annum.
- Following this, New Star SC completed the player’s registration for the I League 2025, adhering to the official player registration guidelines and transfer protocols.
Official Documents and Tournament Committee Approval
New Star SC further stated that all relevant documentation regarding Sahi’s release, contract, and registration was submitted to the I League Tournament Committee, and the player’s inclusion in the squad was formally approved before the tournament began.
The club emphasized that:
All documents were verified by the tournament organizers, and the player was approved to participate under New Star SC. There was no contractual or regulatory tie between Mohamed Sahi and Crystal Palace FC Gampola.
On Crystal Palace FC Allegations
Responding directly to the claims by Crystal Palace FC, New Star SC clarified that:
- Mohamed Sahi had only appeared in friendly and 7-a-side games for Crystal Palace, with no official registration or contract in place.
- Therefore, any claims of ownership or breach of agreement by Crystal Palace are factually incorrect and unsupported by documentation.
Regulatory Backing
As per the I League 2025 Competition Regulations (Sections 15–17), a player is deemed eligible if:
1. They are officially released by their previous club;
2. They are duly contracted and registered within the tournament’s registration window;
3. Their documentation is verified and approved by the Tournament Committee .
If these requirements were met — as New Star SC claims — then the player was legitimately registered.
What’s Next?
While this clarification from New Star SC provides a strong rebuttal to the allegations, it remains to be seen whether the I League Tournament Committee will issue a public statement or ruling to close the matter.
Football
I League 2025 Controversy: Player Transfer Dispute Raises Serious Questions
New Star SC under scrutiny over fielding an ineligible player, Mohamed Sahi, without Crystal Palace FC Gampola’s release
A player registration controversy has emerged during the I League 2025 involving New Star Sports Club and Crystal Palace FC Gampola, potentially violating multiple tournament regulations.
According to reliable reports, Mohamed Sahi, who was formerly registered with Eravur YSS, joined Crystal Palace FC Gampola in February 2025 — a move publicly announced on the club’s official Facebook page.

However, during the ongoing I League tournament, the same player was found listed in the New Star SC squad, raising alarm over a potential unauthorised transfer.
Officials from Crystal Palace FC have confirmed that the club did not release Sahi for any transfer, nor were they informed about his participation with New Star SC in the I League 2025. This suggests a clear breach of both the club-player agreement and the player registration regulations outlined by the I League organizers.
The I League 2025 regulations — particularly under Section 15: Eligibility of Players and Section 16: Registration — strictly prohibit participation without proper registration and release. Clubs are required to register players within the designated transfer window and ensure full compliance with contracts and club agreements. Failure to adhere to these requirements can lead to sanctions, including disqualification and suspensions, as stipulated in the Disciplinary and Ethics Code
This is not the first time New Star SC has faced disciplinary action. In 2020, the club was suspended from the FFSL President’s Cup semi-final after a protest by Blue Eagles SC over fielding an overage U19 marquee player under alleged forged documents — a scandal that led to the resignation of a New Star official who also served on the FFSL Competition Committee.
Growing Concerns Amid Reforms
As Sri Lanka Football Federation (FFSL) and national team authorities work to rebuild the sport’s integrity and international standing, such cases of administrative malpractice threaten to undo recent progress. With the national team performing admirably and the FFSL pushing for reforms, these incidents are a stain on the domestic football system.
This incident serves as a critical reminder that transparent and ethical conduct is non-negotiable if Sri Lankan football is to move forward. The I League Disciplinary Committee is expected to take swift action to investigate and enforce appropriate sanctions if rules have been breached.
News
South Korea Edge Sri Lanka in Thrilling Opener of Asian Rugby World Cup Qualifier
In a closely contested opener of the Asian Rugby Championship – Emirates Edition, which serves as a qualifier for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, South Korea narrowly defeated Sri Lanka with a final score of 38-34 at the Racecourse International Stadium in Colombo yesterday (June 13).
This tournament is crucial in determining Asia’s second qualifier for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, with Japan having already secured their place through the world rankings. The event features four top-tier Asian rugby nations: Sri Lanka, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
Despite the loss, Sri Lanka delivered an impressive performance, going head-to-head with a strong South Korean side. Lasindu Karunaratne of Sri Lanka was named Player of the Match for his outstanding contribution on the field.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to face United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong in the remaining two matches of the series. The tournament, organized by Asia Rugby, features the continent’s top four teams selected based on performance and aims to determine the final Asian representative for the global stage.
The opening match drew notable attendance, including Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Hon. Sunil Kumara Gamage, who witnessed the action live.


Stay tuned to Sri Lankan Sports TV for full coverage of the qualifiers and exclusive content from the ground.







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