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Illness a concern for Sri Lanka as they flag off new era alongside India
It will be the start of a new T20I era for both India and Sri Lanka when they come face-to-face in Pallekele today. For India, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the format and Suryakumar Yadav has been named the new captain. Sri Lanka have moved on from Angelo Mathews, while Charith Asalanka has replaced Wanindu Hasaranga at the helm. Both teams have a new head coach as well. India have got Gautam Gambhir and Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya the latter in an interim capacity, though.
While it is a new beginning for both teams, their starting points could not have been more different. India recently ended their long-awaited ICC trophy drought by winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, a tournament where Sri Lanka were knocked out in the first round.
After that, India sent a second-string side to Zimbabwe where they won the five-match T20I series 4-1. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan players were busy with the Lanka Premier League where Asalanka led Jaffna Kings to the tittle.
Both Asalanka and Suryakumar have previously led their national sides. Asalanka in two T20Is against Bangladesh earlier this year and Suryakumar in seven T20Is in late 2023 against Australia and South Africa.
India are still not at full strength for this series, though. Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best bowler in the world right now, has been rested. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have been dealt a few blows even before the start of the series. First, they lost Dushmantha Chameera (bronchitis), then Nuwan Thushara (broken finger), and now Binura Fernando who has been hospitalised with a chest infection. There is a flu going around their camp, forcing them to call up allrounder Ramesh Mendis as a standby.
Playing for Colombo Strikers, Matheesha Pathirana was the joint second highest wicket taker in the LPL with 15 scalps in nine matches. What stood out even more was his death bowling. In that phase, his economy of 7.02 was easily the best among those who bowled at least five overs at death. Throughout the tournament, Pathirana never bowled more than one over in the first half of the innings, a template likely to be followed by Sri Lanka as well. And having played in the IPL since 2022, Pathirana has plenty of experience of bowling to India batters.
Shubman Gill has admitted that his performance in T20Is leading up to the T20 World Cup was not up to expectations. From August 2023 until the World Cup, he scored 113 runs in eight T2-Is at an average of 16.62 and a strike rate of 126.66. While he did much better in the IPL – 426 runs at an average of 38.72 and a strike rate of 147.40 – once India made their mind to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the World Cup, there was no room for Gill in the squad. But the selectors have shown their faith by naming him the vice-captain for both ODIs and T20Is. It is up to Gill now to repay it.
Kusal Perera had an excellent LPL as an opener. But with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis being the first choice for that role, Perera will have to fight it out with Avishka Fernando for a No. 3 role.
Sri Lanka Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Avishka Fernando/Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (capt), Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana
Given the conditions, India are likely to pick Ravi Bishnoi as a third spinner over Khaleel Ahmed. Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag will compete for one middle-order spot.
India Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi/Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj
At least 14 members of the press were detained in Venezuela on Monday as they were covering the aftermath of the seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by US forces.
The union representing media workers in Venezuela said all but one of those detained were employed by foreign news organisations and were released later on Monday, with one reporter deported.
Foreign news media have long faced restrictions in Venezuela, with very few being granted visas to work in the country.
Their detention came as Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as the interim president and shortly after she said that she was willing to co-operate with the Trump administration, which has said it would “run” Venezuela.
The union said the media workers were detained by Venezuelan security forces at the National Assembly and its environs, and in the neighbourhood of Altamira – all in the capital, Caracas.
At least two of them were seized by agents working for Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency, while others were detained by Venezuela’s intelligence service.
They said they had their equipment searched, their phones checked and their social media posts and messages read, the union statement added.
A Colombian and a Spanish reporter were also detained at Venezuela’s border with Colombia near Cúcuta.
The two reporters were held for hours incommunicado before being released back into Colombia, the statement said.
The union called the incidents “alarming” and called for the release of 23 media workers who remain in detention in the country.
(BBC)
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has called for a “new phase” in ties with China as he met its leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday.
Regional security and lifting Beijing’s unofficial ban on Korean pop culture is high on Lee’s agenda, as he continues his four-day trip in China. He is set to meet China’s Premier Li Qiang and the chairman of parliament, Zhao Leji on Tuesday.
It marks the first visit by a South Korean leader since 2019. Bilateral ties had soured under Lee’s predecessor, impeached ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was very critical of China.
Xi, meanwhile, has appeared keen to shore up ties with South Korea amid a diplomatic row between China and Japan.
South Korea is a US security ally – like Japan – but also relies on China for trade. Experts say Lee is expected to keep walking a diplomatic tightrope between Beijing and Tokyo.
The visit marks the second time the two leaders have met since November when Xi visited South Korea for a regional economic summit.
On Monday Lee stated that the visit was “a crucial opportunity” for the “full-scale restoration of South Korea-China relations”, reported South Korean newspaper Chosun. “We want to usher in a new phase in the development of South Korea-China relations.”
Government officials and companies from both countries signed a series of cooperation agreements on technology, trade and environment.
Lee also took selfies with Xi, using a Xiaomi phone that the Chinese president had gifted him last year.
“The image quality is certainly good, right?” Lee posted on X along with the photos.
Xi noted that the “international situation is becoming more turbulent and complex”.
The meeting followed the US’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
Xi urged Lee to “firmly stand on the right side of history and make correct strategic choices”, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
He also brought up the two countries’ shared history of resisting Japan militarism, saying that China and South Korea should now “work hand in hand to safeguard the outcomes of the victory of World War Two and uphold peace and stability in Northeast Asia”.
Xi’s eagerness to meet Lee signals the pressure he faces in finding a regional ally, Park Seung-chan, professor of China studies at Yongin University told the BBC.
“China may beat around the bush but its demand is clear: side with China and denounce Japan.”
During his four-day trip to China, Lee is expected to hold a memorial service in Shanghai for activists who fought for Korea’s independence from Japan.
But while South Korea is “still showing all its deference towards China”, it wants to “strengthen its relationships with both Japan and China”, Mr Park said.
Lee is reportedly planning to visit Japan later this month to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Security on the Korean Peninsula has also been part of the discussions. Lee has sought to engage North Korea diplomatically, but there has been little progress so far. He needs Chinese cooperation in pressuring the North’s Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons. Beijing is one of Pyongyang’s biggest supporters, economically and diplomatically.
Lee vowed on Monday to work with China on “viable alternatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula”.
On Sunday Seoul’s military said Pyongyang fired ballistic missiles off its east coast. And on Monday the North’s state news agency said the country test-fired hypersonic missiles to assess deterrence capabilities following recent developments, in an apparent reference to the US’s seizure of Maduro.
It remains unclear how much Lee will be able to push China on North Korea. In September, Xi had pledged to strengthen Beijing’s “traditional friendship” with Pyongyang.
And Seoul and Beijing are not natural allies.
US troops have been stationed in South Korea for decades in case of an attack from the North, and last year the two sides agreed to cooperate on building nuclear-powered submarines. The announcement drew warnings from China.
Lee has also sought to put a stop to China’s build-up of maritime structures in waters between the two countries. Beijing says the structures are fish-farming equipment, but they have sparked security concerns in Seoul.
The two leaders agreed on Monday to continue “constructive” dialogue on the matter, South Korea’s presidential spokesperson said.
Another item high on Lee’s agenda is China’s unofficial restrictions on South Korean music and dramas that have been in place for a decade. K-pop and K-dramas are either unavailable or difficult to access on Chinese media platforms.
While China has never acknowledged a ban on Korean artists, it’s believed to be a protest against South Korea’s decision to deploy a US anti-missile system in 2016, which China sees as a threat to its military operations in the region.
China is a massive market for Korean entertainment, which is already a huge global success.
At a Korea-China business forum on Sunday, Lee encouraged deeper bilateral collaboration in beauty products, food and cultural content including movies and music.
A South Korean presidential spokesperson said on Monday that the two leaders agreed to discuss the gradual expansion of cultural exchanges – without specifying concrete commitments on K-dramas or K-pop.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson similarly told reporters on Tuesday that both sides have agreed to “carry out orderly, healthy, and beneficial cultural exchanges”.
Speaking before Korean residents in Beijing on Sunday, Lee said his visit would “serve as a new starting point to fill in the gaps in Korea-China relations, restore them to normal and upgrade them to a new level”.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal forwarded by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to appoint Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala, the officer
in the special grade of Sri Lanka Surveyors’ Service currently serving as the Additional Surveyor General (Central) to the post of Surveyor General with effect from 02.02.2026.
Venezuelan security forces detain journalists as armed police patrol streets
Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks ‘new phase’ in ties with China
M/s South Asian Technologies awarded contract to supply vehicle number plates
A new act for National Lotteries Board to be introduced
Motor Vehicles (Driving License Levy) Regulations No. 3 of 2022 to be amended
Mrs. P. K. L. S. Panduwawala appointed to the post of Surveyor General
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