The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
Lasith Malinga's fiery spell upstaged Shahid Afridi's blazing century as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 16 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup in Dambulla, on Tuesday. Set 243 for victory, Pakistan looked on course after Afridi smashed 109, but Malinga thwarted all their plans by claiming five for 34.
Sri Lanka - who shocked England so spectacularly in Leeds last week - must now beat West Indies and India in their final two games if they are to stand any chance of making the final four.
Former champions Sri Lanka are all but out of the tournament after the Islanders produced a dismal batting show to manage a modest 203, a target which the Proteas overhauled with 76 balls in hand.
It will be a battle of youngsters with the likes of Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya on one side and the new star in the horizon Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan with his variations on the other side.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn took four wickets as South Africa seized control of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Day 2 and went to the close on 126 for four, an overall second innings lead of 170 runs.
England crushed Sri Lanka by seven wickets in a one-sided encounter to storm into the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in St Lucia, on Thursday. England cruised to 132 for three in 16 overs after restricting Sri Lanka to 128 for six.
England's semi-final hopes were dented after they slipped to a 20-run defeat against Sri Lanka.
Images from the tri-series ODI between India and Sri Lanka, played in Dambulla on Sunday.
Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who helped bowl his side to a 10-wicket victory over India in the first test on Thursday, has been rested on medical advice for the second test that starts on Monday.
Factbox on World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval.
Tasmania has signed England all rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas as a replacement for Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the team's international signing for this summer's Twenty20 Big Bash competition.
Sri Lanka could have batted better, says Mahela Jayawardene
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was lavish in praise of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and flamboyant all-rounder Hardik Pandya after Mumbai edged past Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in the IPL match in Bengaluru on Thursday night.
Sri Lanka, who won the tournament in 1996 before making consecutive finals in 2007 and 2011, enter the 2019 edition on a difficult recent run of form.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) accused former selection committee chief Kapila Wijegoonawardena of hurting the morale of the national team ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 campaign by making "inaccurate and misleading" statements in the media. "Mr Wijegoonawardne's statements are inaccurate, misleading, and defamatory, and furthermore are of the nature to cause grevious injury to the moral of the Sri Lanka cricket team, currently intent on bringing home the ICC World Twenty 20," a statement from SLC read. Wijegoonawardena was fired by the Sports Minister last week and was replaced by former batsman Aravinda de Silva. In a statement later, Wijegoonawardena accused that he was victim of politics and a selection committee would not be required in future as politicians would be handpicking the team. He alleged that the decision to remove Lasith Malinga as captain and the team for the ongoing World T20 had been discussed at a team hotel room during the Asia Cup held in Bangladesh.
Like India, Sri Lanka are also struggling with injury to at least one key player as their paceman Lasith Malinga was on Monday rendered doubtful for the first ODI due to indisposition.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene and vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara were left out of Sri Lanka's 15-man squad on Tuesday for the Twenty20 match against India next week. Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead the side, with Chamara Kapugedera serving as his deputy.
Sri Lanka fought off a strong challenge from Ireland at Lord's on Sunday to win their Twenty20 World Cup Super Eight match by nine runs. Ireland, the only non-Test playing nation still in the tournament, restricted the 1996 World one-day champions to 144 for nine after Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to bat.
Pakistan found Lasith Malinga's pace and swing too hot to handle as they went down to Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 at Lord's on Friday.
Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara showered encomiums on his teammates after they scored a comprehensive 97-run win over New Zealand in the first ODI of the Compaq Cup tri-series on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka won the opening match of the tri-series, beating New Zealand by 97 runs. Chasing Sri Lanka's modest 216 for seven, New Zealand were never in the hunt and folded for 119 in 36.1 overs.
A 127-run opening partnership between Sachin Tendulkar (68) and Sanath Jayasuriya (52), followed by splendid bowling by Lasith Malinga (three for 11) and Abhishek Nayar (three for 13), helped Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 92 runs in the Indian Premier League match in Port Elizabeth on Monday. Chasing an improbable 188 to win, Knight Riders crashed to 95 for nine and suffered their worst defeat in the second edition of the league.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the 52 games in IPL-12.
With pitch deteriorating fast at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga on Thursday said a 250-plus score would be enough to defend against the famed Indian batting line-up in the third and final Test.
Former Sri Lanka pacer Chaminda Vaas predicted that Virat Kohli and his men would reach the semi-finals of the upcoming 2019 World Cup.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the first 44 games in IPL-12.
Sri Lanka will start next month's Champions Trophy as underdogs but are confident they have the quality to compete for the title, captain Angelo Mathews said on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians have called up West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor to replace the injured Sri Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga for the remainder of the IPL 2016.
Indian players are conspicuous by their absence from the International Cricket Council's men's team of the Twenty20 World Cup, announced on Monday. The ICC special women's team, though, has Indian pacer Rumeli Dhar in it.
Injuries to key players such as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma is giving them the jitters but India would still be firm favourites when they take on a depleted and struggling Sri Lanka in their penultimate league encounter of the Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket tournament, in Mirpur, on Tuesday.
Four among IPL's five best players are coming in relatively 'fresh' and only AB de Villiers among them has had a full cricket season. Lasith Malinga is returning from injury, and Irfan Pathan isn't a regular in India's playing eleven in ODIs and Tests.
Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis made it to Sri Lanka's 14-member squad for the first cricket Test against India with the pace attack looking severely depleted by injuries to frontline pacers.
With Shikhar Dhawan back in form in the shortest format, the Indian team management and captain Virat Kohli will have the headache of picking from three in-form openers
Maverick pacer Lasith Malinga and all-rounder Farveez Maharoof are among Sri Lanka's 30 probables for the September-slated Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Both Malinga and Maharoof had missed the recently-concluded Asia Cup in Pakistan due to injuries. While the former is recovering from a knee injury that forced him to stay out of the inaugural Indian Premier League, the latter is recuperating from a side strain.
Sri Lanka have called up pace bowler Dilhara Fernando into an expanded 16-man squad for their five-match one-day series against Pakistan, which starts on Thursday. Fernando, 30, will provide strike bowling cover for Lasith Malinga, who is returning to one-day cricket after a year's absence and may not play in all the matches due to a congested schedule.
It all starts in Guwahati on Sunday as the biggest city in Assam is slowly getting back to normalcy after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
Reader Dr.Yadunandan T V sent us these pictures from Colombo.
India, who play three matches against Australia and five against New Zealand, could reach 125 points and within one point of England
