The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා ජාතික ක්රිකට් කණ්ඩායම, Tamil: இலங்கை தேசிய கிரிக்கெட் அணி) nicknamed The Lions,[8] represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) status.[9] The team first played international cricket (as Ceylon) in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.
Sri Lanka's national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from underdog status to winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996, under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. Since then, the team has continued to be a force in international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 and 2011Cricket World Cups consecutively. They ended up being runners-up on both occasions.[10]
Sri Lanka won their first Test match under the leadership of Duleep Mendis on 11 September 1985 against India, winning by 149 runs at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.[17] Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1–0.[18] Sri Lanka had to wait more than seven years for their next series victory, which came against New Zealand in December 1992, when they won the two-match series 1–0.[19] This was immediately followed by a one-wicket victory against England in a one-Test series.[20]
Two years later, on 15 March 1995, Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test match under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga against New Zealand, when they beat them by 241 runs at Napier.[21] This win also resulted in their first overseas Test series victory, 1–0.[22] Their next series too was an overseas series, against Pakistan, and that one too resulted in Sri Lankan victory.[23]
Sri Lanka registered their first ODI win against India at Old Trafford, England on 16 June 1979.[24]
After many years of underdog status, Sri Lanka finally entered the limelight of the cricketing world after winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga.[25] Meanwhile, they revolutionized modern day batting strategies by rapid scoring during the first 15 overs. Sri Lanka later became the co-champions in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and also became six times Asian champions in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2022.
On 11 September 1999, under the leadership of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka won their first Test match against Australia, when they beat them by six wickets at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy.[26] Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1–0.
On 14 June 2000, Sri Lanka played their 100th Test match. It was against Pakistan, at SSC, Colombo, under the leadership of Sanath Jayasuriya. Pakistan won by 5 wickets.[27]
On 4 August 2016, they played their 250th Test match when they played Australia in Galle.[28] They won the match by 229 runs,[29] and also won the Warne-Muralidharan trophy for the first time since its inception. On 17 August 2016, under the leadership of Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0 for the first time in Test cricket.[30]
Until 2017, Sri Lanka had whitewashed Zimbabwe three times, Bangladesh once and Australia once in Test cricket.[citation needed]
Sri Lanka played their first day-night Test match on 6 October 2017 against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.[31][32][33] Under the captaincy of Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka convincingly won the match by 68 runs and sweep the series 2–0. In the match, Dimuth Karunaratne became the first Sri Lankan to score a fifty, a century and a 150 in a day-night Test. Lahiru Gamage, who debut in the match became the first Sri Lankan to take a wicket in a day-night Test, whereas Dilruwan Perera became the first Sri Lankan to take five-wicket haul in a day-night Test.[34]
The second Test match of the 2014 Sri Lanka's England tour, Sri Lanka won the match, despite trailing in the first inning
As of July 2018, Sri Lanka have faced nine teams in Test cricket, only recent Test nations Afghanistan and Ireland are missing from their list of opponents, with their most frequent opponent being Pakistan, playing 55 matches against them.[37] Sri Lanka has registered more wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh than any other team, with 14.[37] In ODI matches, Sri Lanka has played against 17 teams; they have played against India most frequently, with a winning percentage of 39.49 in 149 matches.[38] Within usual major ODI nations, Sri Lanka have defeated England on 34 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs.[38] The team have competed against 13 countries in T20Is, and have played 15 matches against New Zealand. Sri Lanka have defeated Australia and West Indies 6 occasions each.[39] Sri Lanka was the best T20I team in the world, where they ranked number one in more than 32 months, and reached World Twenty20 final in three times.
As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 272 Test matches; they have won 86 matches, lost 101 matches, and 85 matches were drawn.[40] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 816 ODI matches, winning 376 matches and losing 399; they also tied 5 matches, whilst 36 had no result.[41] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 108 T20I matches and won 54 of them; 52 were lost and 1 tied and 1 no result match as well.[42]
From 8 July 2017 to 23 October 2017, Sri Lanka lost twelve consecutive ODI matches, which is their second longest losing run in ODIs.[43][44] In the meantime, Sri Lanka involved 5-0 whitewash in three times against South Africa, India and Pakistan in 2017. And a 3-0 whitewash against the West Indies 3 years later (2020).[45]
Most of the regions of Sri Lanka that are rural areas apart from the Capital could not produce the successful cricketers to the national and international side yet due to the lack of resources and opportunities while only a few major areas such as Galle, Matara, Kandy, Kurunegala usually produce successful cricketers to the national and international side instead of the capital. So the government is trying to distribute the game within the whole country organizing some programs such as 2017–18 Super Four Provincial Tournament.
Similar to other Sri Lankan sports teams, the Sri Lankan national cricket team bears blue and yellow as their colours. The bright blue represents the surrounding ocean, while the golden yellow represents the united island as a whole (depicting the sand).[citation needed][dubious – discuss]
In Test matches, the team wears cricket whites, with an optional sweater or sweater-vest with a dark blue and blue V-neck for use in cold weather, such as on Australia, England, and New Zealand tours. The Sri Lankan flag is found on the left side of the jersey's chest with the Test cap number usually below the flag; helmets are a deep blue and the fielder's hat (usually a baseball cap or a wide-brimmed sunhat) is coloured similar. The sponsor's logo is displayed on the right side of the chest and the sleeve with the Sri Lankan Cricket logo is deployed on the left in test cricket.
Sri Lanka's One Day and Twenty 20 kits vary from year to year with the team wearing its bright blue colour in various shades from kit to kit with yellow stripes on shoulders and waist. Historically, Sri Lanka's kits have had shades of bright blue and golden yellow. In the World Series Cup in 1984–85, Sri Lanka wore yellow uniforms with blue stripes.
For official ICC tournaments such as ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and Asia Cup, "SRI LANKA" is written on the front of the jersey in place of the sponsor logo, with the sponsor logo being placed on the sleeve. A remarkable change in the colour of the kit of Sri Lanka can be found during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 edition in South Africa. The team-coloured with pale silver and the kit has never been seen since then in the team. Since then, the Sri Lankan kit has never changed from the usual brilliant blue colour and very fine yellow stripes. For 2016 ICC World Twenty20, orange and green colours in the flag are also included in the jersey. In 2017 ICC Champions Trophy pool game against India, the kit changed to the mostly yellow coloured shirt with stripes of blue and usual blue trousers.
In 2019 for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Sri Lankan jersey was made from recycled plastic sea waste from the Sri Lankan coast. On the side of the blue background, there is a drawing of a turtle on the shirt.[69]
However, for non-ICC tournaments and bilateral and tri-nation matches, the sponsor logo features prominently on the front of the shirt.
Logo
Sri Lanka's cricket team's logo is a golden lion with a sword bearing on the right arm and the background is bright blue in colour. The name "Sri Lanka Cricket" is written below the lion. In Test cricket, the logo in the cap is slightly changed, where the lion with a sword is surrounded by petals of lotus and then a blue circle surrounds the crest and a yellow circle surrounds the blue circle.
Sponsorship
The period between 2000 and 2010 saw the sponsorship pass between Ceylon tea, Reebok, Mobitel Sri Lanka and Dialog Axiata; Dilmah has remained a sponsor since the early 2000s, replacing Singer, which was the main sponsor in the 1990s. Former manufacturers were Reebok, AJ Sports, Asics, ISC, and Adidas.
Currently, the main sponsors for Sri Lanka cricket are Dialog Axiata, Jat Holdings and MAS Holdings.
This is a list of players who are centrally contracted with SLC or has played for Sri Lanka in the past 12 months or has been named in the recent Test, ODI or T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics. Updated on 14 May 2022.
Keys
Symbol
Meaning
C/G
Contract grade with SLC
S/N
Shirt number of the player in all formats
Format
Denotes the player recently played in which particular format, not his entire career
Note - Suranga Lakmal and Isuru Udana have played for Sri Lanka in this period, but has since then announced their retirement from international cricket.
The SLCB awards central contracts to its players, its pay graded according to the importance of the player. Players' base salaries[75][76][77] are as follows:
England at P. Sara Oval, Colombo; 17–21 February 1982
Pakistan at Galle International Stadium, Galle; 24–28 July 2022
West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester; 7 June 1975
Australia at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo; 24 June 2022
