Sri Lanka has won its first match in the 2026 T20 World Cup against Ireland. The co-hosts struggled in the middle order while batting; However, the spinners made easy work of the match and won by 20 runs. Before their next match, Sri Lankan batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa has made serious comments on the batsmen of the Indian cricket team.
The southpaw believes that the Men in Blue batsmen use special bats that are not produced in any part of the world. This has been the reason for powerful and long distance shots in the game of cricket. He also believes that these bats cannot be purchased by any cricketer across the world. This comment was made by Bhanuka Rajapaksa in a recent interview.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa claimed in an interview that Indian players are using bats that generate more power. He said (quoted by Newswire), “Indian players have bats that are far better than the best bats we have. It feels like a layer of rubber has been put on. I can’t imagine how this is possible. These bats can’t even be bought by other people – all the players know that.”
This is not the first time that a former player has questioned India’s use of cricket equipment in World Cup events. Earlier, in the 2023 World Cup, many former Pakistan cricketers, including Hasan Raza, had questioned India getting special balls from the ICC or BCCI, giving players extra swing on batting-friendly tracks.
Raza further said that ICC should conduct proper inspection of the balls used by India in Cricket World Cup matches. After this, Wasim Akram and many other former Indian cricketers criticized him. Apart from this, Raza also said that the Men in Blue were manipulating the Decision Review System (DRS). However, his comments were termed as ‘comedy’ by cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra.
Now, Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s comments have attracted attention. India has played fearless cricket in the white ball format, the blueprint of which has been set by former India captain Rohit Sharma. He continued to play the same style in the T20 format with high-risk and high-reward games. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, the two flamboyant left-handed opening batsmen, have been disastrous for the team.
India has prepared the blueprint for playing T20 cricket
Especially the former batsman, as he strikes the ball hard, and has been India’s best T20 batsman since his debut after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Apart from him, Hardik Pandya is also a hard hitter of the ball who hits at a pace of over 150. Most of India’s batsmen use a curve-shaped bat from the bottom which helps them gain more power.
However, those bats can also be customized as per the batsmen’s requirements, and any batsman in the world can do so. Thus, Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s allegation of using the special bat used by the Indian team is baseless and false.
Sri Lanka is struggling with injury problems as Wanindu Hasaranga will miss the remaining matches of the T20 World Cup after suffering a hamstring injury in the first game.
Also read: Wanindu Hasaranga ruled out of T20 World Cup 2026