Catching Fire: Sri Lankan Men’s Cricket is Back!

NB: Yes I know they lost to Zimbabwe at home in a dead rubber within 10 minutes of my posting this 😂

Maybe? I have hopes. At least in T20s.

Vs Australia – T20 World Cup 2026, Group B, Pallekele (Feb 16, 2026)Sri Lanka 184/2 (18) beat Australia 181 (20) – won by 8 wickets.¹
Vs Oman – T20 World Cup 2026, Group B, Pallekele (Feb 12, 2026)Sri Lanka 225/5 (20) beat Oman 120/9 (20) – won by 105 runs.²
Vs Ireland – T20 World Cup 2026, Group B, Colombo (Feb 8, 2026)Sri Lanka 163/6 (20) beat Ireland 143 (19.5) – won by 20 runs.³
Vs England – 3rd T20I, Kandy (Feb 3, 2026)Sri Lanka 116 (19.3) lost to England 128/9 (20) – lost by 12 runs.⁴
Vs England – 2nd T20I, Kandy (Feb 1, 2026)Sri Lanka 189/5 (20) lost to England 173/4 (16.4) – lost by 6 wickets (DLS).⁵
Vs England – 1st T20I, Kandy (Jan 30, 2026)Sri Lanka 133 (16.2) lost to England 125/4 (15) – lost by 11 runs (DLS).⁶
Vs Pakistan – 3rd T20I, Dambulla (Jan 11, 2026)Sri Lanka 160/6 (12) beat Pakistan 146/8 (12) – won by 14 runs (DLS).⁷
Vs Pakistan – 2nd T20I, Dambulla (Jan 9, 2026)Match abandoned – no result.⁸
Vs Pakistan – 1st T20I, Dambulla (Jan 7, 2026)Sri Lanka 128 (19.2) lost to Pakistan 129/4 (16.4) – lost by 6 wickets.⁹
Vs Pakistan – Tri-series match, Rawalpindi (Nov 27, 2025)Pakistan 178/7 (20) lost to Sri Lanka 184/5 (20) – Sri Lanka won by 6 runs.¹⁰

So. Its not perfect, and England is far from a T20 loss one can take solace from, but this does look much more like that old punchy Sri Lanka than what we’ve seen in the last ten years, doesn’t it?

Just three years ago, Sri Lanka were ninth out of ten teams, winning just two matches (against the Netherlands and England) and losing seven in the 2023 ODI CWC.¹¹ Their bowling averaged 43.1, their economy rate was the worst in the tournament (6.5), and their catching efficiency — at 64.7% — was the worst of any team.¹² ¹³ Captain Dasun Shanaka was injured mid-tournament; Matheesha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara were also ruled out.¹⁴ Eighteen different players turned up in the playing XI across nine games. This also meant they missed qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy.¹⁵

Backroom
Meanwhile they had also failed to make the Super 8 round in the 2024 T20 world Cup, which led to their coach Chris Silverwood’s resignation.16 Into this breach walked Sanath Jayasuriya.¹⁷ ¹⁸ As far as I know, he hadn’t formally coached any teams before the national side,¹⁸ although he’d been chief selector twice,¹⁸ and… been banned for two years under ICC’s anti-corruption code.¹⁹ But the team’s results showed that he was bringing the magic of his playing days to the coaching job too:

2-0 ODI series win against India at home — Sri Lanka’s first bilateral ODI series victory over India in 27 years, since 1997.²⁰
Test win at The Oval against England — Sri Lanka’s first Test victory on English soil in a decade, since Headingley 2014.²¹
2-0 Test series whitewash of New Zealand at home — Sri Lanka’s first Test series win over the Kiwis in 15 years.²²
Series wins against West Indies in both ODIs (2-1) and T20Is (2-1).²³

In 2024, Sri Lanka participated in 14 bilateral series and won 11 of them. At home, they were near-invincible, winning nine out of ten series.²⁴

Sri Lanka also appointed Lasith Malinga as consultant fast‑bowling coach as part of their build‑up to the 2026 T20 World Cup at home.²⁵ Malinga has previously served as Sri Lanka’s fast bowling/ strategy coach in 2022.²⁶ Malinga captained Sri Lanka to the 2014 T20 World Cup title,²⁵ so he knows exactly how to manage high‑stakes tournament play, but he’s also been fast‑bowling coach/mentor in leagues like the IPL (Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals),²⁷ bringing cutting‑edge tactical trends back into the Sri Lankan dressing room.

Random aside: when I first saw Jasprit Bumrah, I thought, yay, we’ve got someone like Lasith now.

In December 2025, Sri Lanka Cricket appointed R. Sridhar as fielding coach of the men’s team until the end of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Sridhar’s CV is serious:²⁸

India’s fielding coach from 2014 to 2021, across 300‑plus internationals and multiple World Cups.
Recent consultant work with Afghanistan.

And for the batting, Sri Lanka hired former India batting coach Vikram Rathour as a consultant batting coach on a short‑term contract, running from 18 January to 10 March 2026. The board was explicit in its statement: Rathour’s appointment had a “primary focus” on preparing for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Rathore:²⁹

Spent five years (2019–2024) as India’s batting coach, including their T20 World Cup 2024 title.
Has IPL experience as assistant coach with Rajasthan Royals.

Board Room
Joy Bhattacharjya wrote recently³⁰ about one of Indian cricket’s great, under‑appreciated superpowers: whatever circus is going on in the BCCI’s boardrooms, it almost never leaks into the running of the cricket itself. The cricket is insulated from the politics, and that insulation is part of the competitive advantage.

For years, Sri Lanka were the opposite of that. In November 2023 the ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket for “serious breach” of its obligation to run the game autonomously, citing explicit government interference.³¹ The sports minister had sacked the SLC board after the World Cup and tried to install an interim committee – which included political figures – only for the courts to reverse it within 24 hours.³² Sri Lanka’s sports law literally requires the minister to sign off on every national squad, and that’s been the case since the 1970s.³³ It hasn’t changed too much- their current sports minister recently had to hold a press conference defending recent changes.³⁴ Ministers don’t really have to do this in most countries.

Despite this noise, the selection outcomes in the last 18–24 months have been more coherent and cricket‑driven than they’ve been in years. Players are being given proper runs before the axe falls— a stark contrast to Maheesh Theekshana being discarded after two Tests and Jeffrey Vandersay after one.

Front page
Sri Lanka replaced Charith Asalanka with veteran all-rounder Dasun Shanaka as T20I captain in December 2025, just weeks before the World Cup.³⁵ Shanaka, the most experienced T20I captain in Sri Lanka’s history (53 matches leading the side), had been through three previous World Cups.³⁶ He seems to be the spine SL are building their team around.

But also, if you’re only catching results like me, it’s easy to miss just how many Sri Lankan players are having mini-career peaks at the same time.

Pathum Nissanka: he became the first centurion of the 2026 T20 World Cup, smashing 100 off 52 balls against Australia with 10 fours and 5 sixes, and walking them into the Super 8s with an eight‑wicket win.³⁷ He also scored Sri Lanka’s first-ever ODI double hundred (210* vs Afghanistan in 2024).³⁸

Kamindu Mendis: He’s less visible in comparison to the incandescent Nissanka, but in 2024 he reached 1000 Test runs in just 13 innings, equalling Don Bradman as joint second‑fastest ever and becoming the fastest Asian to the landmark.³⁹

Dunith Wellalage: In the 2024 home ODI series against India, he ripped through a full-strength batting line‑up with 5 for 27 in the decider, knocking India over for 138.²⁰ He’s also been central to West Indies getting routed for 89 in a T20I in Dambulla – 3 for 9 on debut in that series, on a pitch where West Indies went 37 balls without a boundary.⁴⁰

Another couple names I’ve found are Kamil Mishara and Eshan Malinga. Kamil Mishara keeps threatening to break games open in fast‑forward: he’s peeled off T20 innings like a 73* off 43 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes,⁴¹ and a 76‑run blitz in the Pakistan tri‑series.⁴² That’s on top of an unbeaten maiden T20I fifty in a 192‑run chase, where he walked away with Player of the Match.⁴³ With the ball, Eshan Malinga has been quietly auditioning to become the next problem: a left‑arm quick with enough pace and movement to have best figures 4 for 33 in first‑class cricket,⁴⁴ ⁴⁵ and 13 wickets in seven games in his first IPL season.⁴⁶

Sri Lankan cricket taught me how to love Test cricket all the way back in 2007, when — dejected after an ignominious World Cup exit — I couldn’t even bring myself to look at my own team. So I watched Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene pile on runs instead.

Welcome back, neighbours. I’ve missed you. 🇱🇰🧿

Sources

Author: Finrod Bites Wolves

A blogger. View all posts by Finrod Bites Wolves

Share this:

Related

Author: Finrod Bites Wolves

Leave a comment Cancel reply