Shanaka’s request SL players

Though his team is facing a severe backlash from the fans over their recent poor performances, including a series defeat to England at home, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka on Thursday urged his players to focus on a step-by-step approach as they enter the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to be played at their home. Shanaka also stressed the importance of experience, team responsibility, and maintaining the nation’s proud record in ICC events hosted on home soil. Speaking at the captains’ media briefing in Colombo, Shanaka said the team’s preparations had been encouraging despite results not always going their way. Sri Lanka recently lost to England at their home in the T20I series, which has raised eyebrows about their preparation. “Yeah, so the preparations were good from my perspective. It’s not the results that came our way. So, extremely happy about the bowling unit and the way they executed, especially Chameera, Pathirana, and even Maheesh Theekshana, who bowled well in the last game,” Shanaka said. The fans were so enraged after Sri Lanka lost the series to England at Palekelle that they wanted the entire team disbanded, and the selection committee sacked. Shanaka admitted there were concerns with the batting unit, which were clearly visible during the England series, but expressed confidence in the experience within the squad. “Yeah, there were some concerns with the batting, but hopefully we’ll get through this. You know, we have quite an experienced batting line-up, so it’s totally dependent on the individuals to show their specialities in the World Cup,” the Sri Lanka skipper added. @@@