The already depleted Sri Lanka team on Monday suffered another blow with left arm fast bowler Binura Fernando being ruled out of the T20 series against India after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Kumar Sangakkara created history by notching up a record fourth consecutive ODI century that powered Sri Lanka to a crushing 148-run win over Scotland in their final group league match of the ongoing cricket World Cup in Hobart.
Also returning to the 15-man squad, which will also take part in the upcoming Asia Cup tournament before the March 8-April 3 World Twenty20, was all-rounder Angelo Mathews.
India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the finals of the tournament.
Images from the World Cup Pool A match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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.
Angelo Mathews was replaced Lasith Malinga as captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team for the International Cricket Council World Twenty20.
The World Cup will be the last assignment for Kumar Sangakkara in One-Day Internationals and the Sri Lankan left-hander has ensured he will sign off on a high, at least on the personal front.
The India right-hander has 862 points in his kitty, still 25 points behind AB de Villiers of South Africa, who is heading the list.
Majestic Mahela Jayawardene joined 12,000 runs club in One-day Internationals.
Former India cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Kaif gave the fans some 'good news' when they appeared on the popular television show Big Boss hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. The Road Safety World Series will see some of the biggest legends of the game take on each other in a five-nation T20 tournament featuring India, West Indies, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka
A final-over blitz by Nathan McCullum gave New Zealand a thrilling last-ball victory by four wickets over Sri Lanka in the rain-hit second One-Day International on Tuesday.
Pakistan opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad has escaped strong disciplinary action for his controversial religious comments to Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka as the Board let him off with just a stern reprimand for violating a clause of his central contract.
Off-spinner R Ashwin, who has been phenomenal in home conditions, has made it to the Test team as the 12th man, while pacer Mohammed Shami has been included in the ODI team.
The three-match T20I series thus ended 2-1 in favour of India, who stuttered after opting to bat before skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's resilient 39 not out (33b; 3x4, 1x6) propped up their total to 138 for five.
Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott put on a world record 267-run partnership as New Zealand recovered from 93-5 to thump Sri Lanka by 108 runs in the fifth One-Day International in Dunedin on Friday.
Featuring Gayle, Kohli, Root, Dilshan and Butler.
The West Indies ended their dismal tour of Sri Lanka with a consolation victory after Dwayne Bravo's all-round brilliance secured a series-levelling 23-run win in the second and final Twenty20 International on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka held their nerve after a brilliant century by Jos Buttler to beat England by seven runs in the fourth one-day international at Lord's on Saturday and level the series at 2-2.
India's left-arm spinner Axar Patel jumped 20 places to his career-best ranking of 13 in the International Cricket Council's Rankings for ODI bowlers while Jasprit Bumrah and Dhawal Kulkarni also made progress after conclusion of the three-match series against Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka beat England by 90 runs in the sixth One-Day International at Pallekele on Saturday to take an unbeatable 4-2 lead in their seven-match series.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weaved his magic with a career-best four-wicket haul as India thrashed Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the deciding third and final Twenty20 International, to clinch the three-match series 2-1, in Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.
Buoyed by an overwhelming victory in the previous game, a resilient India would look to continue the momentum and seal off their second successive T20 series win when they take on Sri Lanka in the third and final Twenty20 International, in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. India shrugged off their embarrassing defeat in opening T20 match in Pune with a commanding show in Ranchi, where they outclassed the island nation by 69 runs to level the series. The Indian batsmen had struggled to cope with the 'green' track in Pune but adjusted well on a slow strip at Ranchi, where they did not put a foot wrong. The bowlers, too, were in complete control, never letting the Sri Lankan batsmen dominate. Moreover, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy was impressive and all his experiments, be it reshuffling of the batting order or bowling tactics, paid off. India not only mastered the conditions but also executed their plans to perfection.
Asked to comment on India-Pakistan high voltage match, Inzamam-ul-Haq said with a smile: "I'm Afghan coach..."
Englishman Paul Farbrace will succeed Graham Ford as Sri Lanka's head coach from the start of next year, the country's cricket board said on Friday.
Australia bundled out Sri Lanka for 212 but endured a top order wobble of their own before reaching 98/3 in reply after a frenetic, spin-dominated day one of the opening Test in Galle on Wednesday.
The team heard a loud crackle. Then the scream came from Dilshan at the front of the bus. 'Get down.' Jayawardene was hit first; his sock filled with blood. Outside, twelve gunmen blocked the exit. A revealing excerpt from Nicholas Brookes's An Island's Eleven: A History of Cricket in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka retained their status as the world's top Twenty20 team by beating Pakistan by 24 runs in a thrilling finish in the second game in Dubai on Friday.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between Australia and Pakistan in Bengaluru, on Friday.
Sri Lanka have included pace spearhead Lasith Malinga in their 15-man squad for the Cricket World Cup despite concerns over his fitness after ankle surgery, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka's bowlers bundled out England for 185 before the hosts chased down the target with eight wickets to spare in the rain-hit second One-day international on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the seven-match series.
Andre Fletcher produced a blinder of an innings, smashing 84 runs off only 64 balls, to power the West Indies to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
His coming of age at the tournament could prove to be influential in the later stages as they now do not need to rely so much on their 'Big Three' of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, and Mahela Jayawardene to provide their runs.
A patient half-century by opening batsman Hashim Amla guided South Africa to a consolation 8-wicket victory over struggling Sri Lanka in the Group A encounter at New Delhi on Monday. Chasing a modest target of 121 runs, Amla scored 56 runs off 52 balls to help his team chase down the target with 14 balls remaining. Skipper Faf du Plessis also scored 32 runs off 36 balls, while AB de Villiers hit a brisk 20 off 12 balls.
Rajneesh Gupta highlights important numbers featuring the Sri Lankan team from World Cups.
Sri Lanka opener Kusal Perera blasted the second fastest one-day fifty in their series-levelling two-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second ODI at Pallekele on Wednesday.
Alastair Cook should be dropped as England's One-Day International captain after presiding over another "flat and tedious" display in an eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka on Saturday, according to former all-rounder Ian Botham.
A magnificent century by Moeen Ali proved in vain as England suffered a 25-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first of seven one-day internationals on Wednesday.
England held their nerve to beat Sri Lanka by 10 runs in a thrilling World Twenty20 Group One match on Saturday, reaching the semi-finals and knocking the defending champions out of the tournament.
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