Sports
In Asalanka Sri Lanka believe
by Rex Clementine
It wasn’t the ideal start for Sri Lanka in the New Year as rain ruined what could have been a comprehensive victory for the hosts in the opening fixture of the three match ODI series against Zimbabwe on Saturday. But there is some assurance that we are going to see lot more rescue acts from that diminutive left-hander Charith Asalanka.
This is Asalanak’s fourth year as an international cricketer. There have been many young players with so much promise over the last four years, but the glamorous lifestyle of a cricket player means that most of them go out of track. Asalanka has stayed focused; no tattoos, no studs, no late-night parties, no social media extravaganza and no coups to ouster captains. Like Rahul Dravid, he has remained determinedly low profile.
Batting at number five is an art. Not many succeed in that position. At times when the top order has fired you have to come and throw the kitchen sink in a bid to get quick runs and at other times when there has been a collapse you have to stage recoveries stitching crucial partnerships with the tail. It’s a role where you need to adapt. Technically you need to be sound and many calculated risks need to be taken.
Several soft dismissals had threatened to end Sri Lanka’s innings early when Asalanka played a blinder on Saturday. There was good running between the wickets, there was a period of consolidating and then when the last five overs came bit of improvisation trying to clear the boundary.
It is only Asalanka’s third ODI century and more will come this year which has lot of cricket.
Sri Lanka will engage in ten Test matches this year and there are several bilateral series home and away. Into the bargain there is a T-20 World Cup too.
By the looks of it, Wanindu Hasaranga, our T-20 captain is struggling with his fitness. He is a superstar, but not every superstar can become a captain. Lasith Malinga is a case in point. He was a disaster as captain. Let’s hope Hasaranga is not going the Malinga way. Anyway, to hand him the T-20 captaincy when he had not been cleared 100 percent fit is an interesting choice. But stranger things have happened in Sri Lankan cricket.
Being the designated vice-captain of the white ball teams, in all probability Asalanka will lead the country this year. That will be the dawn of a new era.
For so long we have waited for that leader who will fix our cricketing woes. Many have come and gone but none have had the capacity to take the team in the right direction.
Sri Lankan cricket and our fans have suffered for so long. People are losing interest in the game as evident by the low turnout on Saturday. Barely 3000 fans watched the game on a Saturday in a stadium that has a capacity for 35,000. Everyone will be desperately hoping that we find a leader who will take us to our glory days in the sport. That could be Asalanka.
This is not to say that Asalanka is the finish product. He has a lot of work to do. His fielding is horrendous and during the World Cup he must have dropped half a dozen catches. That is one area that he needs to work on. However, the overall package that he has to offer us is exciting indeed.
Finally, some hope for the national cricket team.
The Sri Lanka Air Force [SLAF] Men’s Judo Team emerged overall champions in the Men’s Category at the 62nd National Judo Championship organized by the Sri Lanka Judo Association, reclaiming the prestigious title for the first time since 2014.
The championship was held from 30 January to 01 February 2026 at the Indoor Stadium of the Ministry of Sports, Sri Lanka, with the awards ceremony conducted at the same venue on 01 February 2026.
The awards ceremony was graced by Air Commodore Manoj Galappaththi, Chairman of SLAF Judo, Group Captain MADCI Gunasinghe, Secretary of SLAF Judo, and Wing Commander HDTNS Hettiarachchi, Assistant Secretary of SLAF Judo, along with several senior officers representing the tri-services.
The SLAF Men’s Judo Team secured the overall championship in the Men’s Category with a medal tally of six gold medals, three silver medals and six bronze medals.
Meanwhile, the SLAF Women’s Judo Team delivered a commendable performance to secure the Overall Runners-up position in the Women’s Category, winning four gold medals, four silver medals and six bronze medals.
Further highlighting the SLAF’s success, Sergeant Chamara Dharmawardana was adjudged the ‘Best Male Judo Player’ for the ninth consecutive year, continuing a notable record in Sri Lankan Judo. In recognition of emerging talent, Mr. Wipulaweera was awarded the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ in the Men’s Category, while Leading Aircraftwoman Yapa YMMM received the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ in the Women’s Category award. In addition, Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST was recognized as the ‘Best Ippon Player’ of the championship.
Summary of results
Gold Medalists
Mr. Wipulaweera (66 Kg)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN (73 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST (81 kg)
Leading Aircraftman Osman MI (Over 70 kg)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN (Open Event-Men )
Leading Aircraftwoman Yapa YMMM (57 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Samaraweera HVPCSD (63 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Wickramasinghe RMSP (Over 78 Kg)
Team Event (Mix)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN
Leading Aircraftman Osman MI
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR
Leading Aircraftwoman Bandara BGNK
Sergeant Lakshani MGU
Silver Medalists
Leading Aircraftman Arachchi WAASW (73 Kg)
Corporal Mahesh TP (90 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST (Open Event -Men)
Leading Aircraftman Premalal UKGAN (44 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Bandara BGNK (52 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR (70 Kg)
Sergeant Lakshani MGU (Over 78 Kg)
Bronze Medalists
Leading Aircraftman Madushanka RMSL (50 kg)
Leading Aircraftman Weerasinghe RSN (55 Kg)
Mr. Wipulaweera (60 kg)
Corporal Kumara SD (81 kg)
Corporal Abesinghe KGCK (Under 100kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Priyanthi S (48 Kg)
Aircraftwoman Rupasinghe DGITS (48 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Senarathna JASS (52 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Chathurangani BAI (63 kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Deumini TML (78 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR (Open Event- Women)
Corporal Kumara SD (Open Event – Men)
A home series against England was meant to be the ideal dress rehearsal, a chance for Sri Lanka to oil the wheels and gather momentum ahead of the World Cup starting later this week. Instead, the campaign has gone awfully wrong. Plenty of promise, precious little substance. Bar the lone victory in the opening ODI, the hosts have spent the white-ball leg chasing shadows, the ODI series defeat a bitter pill and the T20I whitewash a full-blown reality check. Sri Lanka’s frailties against spin were already an open secret; this series merely put them under a brighter spotlight, throwing up more questions than answers.
Handing three wickets in an over to a part-timer like Jacob Bethell is the sort of generosity normally reserved for charity matches. Failing to hunt down 129 on surfaces the batting unit has been reared on, rank turners that should feel like home cooking, tells its own grim tale.
The malaise is rooted in mindset. Too many batters are reaching for the glory shot, swinging from the heels when the situation demands nudges into gaps, hard yards between the wickets and a willingness to play the waiting game.
Cricket, after all, is not always about clearing the ropes; sometimes it is about milking the bowling and letting the scoreboard tick over. Unless these rough edges are sanded down, Sri Lanka risk walking into the World Cup with the same old cracks papered over.
Recent T20 World Cups have been a sobering reminder of how far the side has drifted. A meek first-round exit last time and the indignity of qualifying rounds before that should have set alarm bells ringing. Yet, carrying largely the same cast into a fourth successive global event, the team continues to tread water, repeating errors like a stuck record rather than turning the page.
One positive has been the improved handling of injuries that once felled key players at the worst moments, but elsewhere the repair job remains half-finished.
The biggest question mark hovers over captain Dasun Shanaka. A skipper struggling to read the wrong’un, let alone steer a chase, can quickly become dead weight. His elevation came out of the blue and the warning signs were there from day one, but they were waved away. Cricket, like life, has a habit of punishing stubbornness, and Sri Lanka are discovering that harsh truth the hard way.
Rex Clementine at Pallekele
India’s explosive batting juggernaut rolled on to the doorstep of the men’s T20 World Cup 2026, helping them beat South Africa by 30 runs in the warm-up fixture at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The margin of defeat only reduced because of two overs of 22 and 20 against Shivam Dube at the death.
Opting to bat at a ground which saw teams preferring to chase in the first leg of WPL 2026, Ishan Kishan got India off to an explosive start. He rollicked to a 20-ball 53, which included a sequence of 6, 6, 4, 6 in the fifth over from Anrich Nortje, before retiring out as India finished the powerplay on 83 for 1. Tilak Varma, who played the warm-up for India A a couple of nights ago at the same venue and linked up with the Indian squad just before this warm-up game, looked fluent from get-go in his 19-ball 45.
Suryakumar Yadav as well as Hardik Pandya later freed their arm without inhibition as India posted a mammoth 240 for 5. Nortje, who has played just one international since the last T20 World Cup, conceded 57 in his three overs on the night, after his comeback game against West Indies last week also gave him figures of 3-0-59-0. Kagiso Rabada, too, was expensive, going for 44 off his three overs.
For South Africa, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton added 65 in just five overs in the powerplay. Markram hit four sixes in his 19-ball 38 while Rickelton, batting at No. 3, made 44 off 21. But they kept losing wickets regularly and had lost half their side by the 11th over.
Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen kept peppering the boundaries to punish Abhishek Sharma and then Dube but the challenge was too steep by then.
Brief scores:
India 240 for 5 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 53, Tilak Varma 45, Axar Patel 35*; Marco Jansen 1-18) beat South Africa 210 for 7 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 45*, Ryan Rickelton 44, Aiden Markram 38, Jason Smith 35; Abhishek Sharma 2-32) by 30 runs
[Cricinfo]
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