After the bomb blast threatened the lives of the cricketers, Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka, who was also ill, was among the first to leave the country, even though the Sri Lankan Cricket Board threatened consequences against the players.
Just a few weeks ago, Pakistan again came into limelight for another attack in its territory. After bomb blast in Islamabad shook the city, Sri Lankan cricketers playing in Rawalpindi were left scared of the untoward incident.
Sri Lanka reached Pakistan in the second week of November and played a three-match ODI series from 11 to 16 November. After this series, there was to be a tri-series, which PCB is hosting for the first time.
Sri Lankan captain will not be sacked?
Sri Lankan players were shaken by the massive bomb blast in Islamabad and during that time many cricketers wanted to return to their country as they were not convinced by any safety measures adopted by the PCB.
Since the return of the players would cause huge humiliation to the Pakistan Cricket Board, he warned the Sri Lankan Cricket Board not to allow any such thing to their players. Similarly, the Lankans also declared that they had to stay back and carry on, and whoever came back would have to face the consequences.
Although many stayed behind, Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka decided to return to his country as he was also ill. It was reported that he would be sacked as captain after returning home, but SLC selection committee chief Upul Tharanga has suggested otherwise.
,Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Committee Chairman Upul Tharanga confirmed, “No decision has been taken yet to remove Charitra Asalanka from the captaincy.”
Breaking News
No decision has been taken yet on removing Charith Asalanka from the captaincy – Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Committee Chairman Upul Tharanga.#sportspavilionlk #danushkarvinda #charitasalanka #SLvsPAK pic.twitter.com/Gqzr73qaEz
– Danushka Aravinda (@DanuskaAravinda) 26 November 2025
Can the former Asia Cup-winning captain lead Sri Lanka to the final of the tri-series?
Since the departure of Charith Asalanka, former Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka was appointed their captain for the T20I series between Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Zimbabwe was included as the third team after Afghanistan withdrew from the series following a series of attacks on their territory that killed innocent civilians as well as ACB cricketers.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza showed a lot of positivity while claiming to have reached the final of the competition. They did not have a bad start, despite losing to Pakistan they defeated Sri Lanka in the next match.
Sri Lanka came back only after 3 games, when they had already lost 2 games, and losing the third would mean going out. Thanks to Pathum Nissanka’s 98 runs, Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe in the second match between the two teams.
Led by Asia Cup-winning captain Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka will have to defeat Pakistan in the final group-stage game to qualify for the finals, where Pakistan has already reached with 3 consecutive wins.
Apart from Pathum Nissanka, no one has crossed the 50-run mark after 3 matches in the series.
Sri Lanka’s batting performance in this T20 tri-series has been very poor. The only batsman to make it into the top 10 list of run-scorers in the series is Pathum Nissanka, and that too after scoring 98* in the last game. He is now at 5th position with a total of 115 runs.
He is the only Sri Lankan batsman to score 50 or more runs in all the matches of the series combined. The next best batsman in Sri Lanka’s eleven is J. Liyanaj, who has played only one innings for them.
Pathum Nissanka averages 57.50 in the series, while all other Sri Lankan batsmen average below 20 in the series. Wanindu Hasaranga has been the best bowler for Sri Lanka with 5 wickets and less than 7 economy.
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