Sports
IPL experience will create good energy for SL: Bhanuka Rajapaksa
ASIA CUP 2022
The swashbuckling, thrill-a-minute batter – who turned heads in the early phase of IPL 2022 with his cameos – is hoping to carry the ‘positive vibes’ of IPL to the Sri Lankan side at the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka have the second-best tally of Asia Cup wins (5 to India’s 7) but their last victory came back in 2014.
“For me, the experience I bring after playing in the IPL will create good energy for the side,” Rajapaksa said. “One of the best chats I had with Liam Livingstone was when he said, ‘If it’s in the V, make sure the ball is in the trees”. He’d just be that aggressive. Proper slam-bang player.
“Coming back to the Sri Lankan side, I have brought in a lot of positivity after speaking to a lot of the IPL players, like Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and Kagiso Rabada. I don’t think I have the time to explain in detail the talks we had, but there were a lot of positive vibes. I’m hoping we can take that same brand of cricket to the world.”
They can put this ‘brand’ to test on the opening night (August 27) of the multi-team tournament, when they take on Afghanistan in Dubai.
Hong Kong qualify
Like in 2018, Hong Kong have made it to Asia Cup again. They’re in the same group as India and Pakistan – like 2018 again. They face Rohit Sharma’s side on August 31 and Pakistan on September 2 – in Dubai and Sharjah respectively.
Asia Cup 2022 Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohamad Wasim Jr., Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Usman Qadir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Mohammad Hasnain
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (c), Pathum Nissanka, Nuwanidu Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kusal Mendis, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dinesh Chandimal, Ashen Bandara, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madhushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Nuwan Thushara
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossein, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan, Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Samiullah Shinwari, Afsar Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmed Malik, Rashid Khan
(Cricbuzz)
Virat Kohli has communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI ahead of the big five-match series in England starting June 20, for which he is expected to be a part of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understands that Kohli has been having these conversations with officials of the BCCI for the past month or so.
If Kohli doesn’t change his mind, he will bring the curtain down on a glorious career that has spanned 14 years and included 123 Tests – 68 of them as captain – in which he has 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.
But it hasn’t been a particularly fruitful time in the format for Kohli of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, has been 32.56 over the last 24 months.
(Cricinfo)
The remainder of PSL 2025 has been postponed indefinitely. The PCB cited the “worsening of the situation” at the Pakistan-India border as the reason, saying the board had acted on advice from the Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The board said it had “sincere regard for the mental well-being of participating players and the sentiments of our foreign players, and we respect the concerns of their families who want to see them back home” and that was considered when making the decision.
The development came less than 24 hours after the PCB had announced that the remaining eight games of the PSL would be played in the UAE, without specifying the dates or the venues, with the expectation that it would take about a week to resume.
Overseas players as well as Pakistani players who currently hold visas to the UAE were scheduled to leave on Friday night, with the remaining visas being applied for over the weekend. That, however, has changed, and the teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect, with travel back home being arranged for foreign players.
There is no word yet on when, or if, the remaining games will be played. The postponement came hours after the IPL was temporarily suspended owing to the tensions between the two countries.
The PSL held an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, and involved the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi meeting with foreign players, who overwhelmingly expressed a desire to relocate the league to the UAE.
“The PCB recognises the efforts and support of its partners, franchises, participating players, broadcasters, sponsors, and organisers in having ensured the smooth conduct of the tournament thus far, however; cricket while being a unifying force and a source of joy, must take a respectful pause…” the PCB statement said.
[Cricinfo]
World Relays 2025
A ‘full strength Sri Lanka 4×400 metres mixed relay team’ will compete against formidable European powerhouses when they take part in the first heat of the relay on day one of the World Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday.
“We will field our best four for the heats,” said W.M.G. Thushara, the mamager cum coach of the Sri Lanka team in an interview with The Island after reaching Guangzhou yesterday.
There is one junior athlete in the six member team but Sri Lankan authorities have decided to field the full strength team in the heats.
“It will be Nadeesha Ramanayake, Nishendra Fernando, Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana as we are planning to produce our best performace,” Thushara said.
Ramanayake, Kumarage and Dharshana were part of the team that established a new national record in the mixed relay at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2023. Only missing member from that team is Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka team will compete in the first heat where Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and hosts China are the others. The first two from the heats will directly qualify for the World Relays and also the World Championships to be held in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka fielded only the mixed relay team for the World Relays despite the men’s 4×400 team qualifying for the event. The World Relays starting today is the main qualifying competition for relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
by Reemus Fernando
-
Opinion7 days agoRemembering Dr. Samuel Mathew: A Heart that Healed Countless Lives
-
Business5 days agoAitken Spence Travels continues its leadership as the only Travelife-Certified DMC in Sri Lanka
-
Latest News3 days agoNPP win Maharagama Urban Council
-
Business5 days agoLinearSix and InsureMO® expand partnership
-
Business3 days agoJohn Keells Properties and MullenLowe unveil “Minutes Away”
-
Features7 days agoTrump’s economic missiles are boomeranging
-
Latest News6 days agoThe Heat index is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Eastern, Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Monaragala and Hambantota districts.
-
Business4 days agoNDB Bank partners with Bishop’s College to launch NDB Pixel awareness