Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka seems to be on throughout T20 World Cup 2026 conflict towards New Zealand, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 25, 2026. — AFP
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka stated the relentless criticism aimed toward his gamers has been damaging to their psychological well being and undermined their efforts on the Twenty20 World Cup, the place they had been eradicated from the group stage on Wednesday.
The event co-hosts drew heavy flak from followers and pundits for his or her shaky buildup to the World Cup, which included dropping 5 of six limited-overs matches to England.
The 2014 champions suffered a second successive Tremendous Eights defeat on Wednesday, with New Zealand scoring a complete victory to knock them out of the event.
Shanaka apologised to followers after their “embarrassing” efficiency but in addition felt an environment of negativity had reached an extent the place the authorities should intervene.
“No matter how we as cricketers try to stay positive, there is negativity outside,” Shanaka advised reporters after their defeat in Colombo.
“We will play and leave, but for the players who will come in the future, if the government can even stop it, that’s better for their mental health.”
Chasing 169 for victory, Sri Lanka had been 46-5 within the eleventh over and by no means appeared like recovering.
“Honestly, we are very sorry for what happened. No one goes out there to fail, everyone goes with the intention of playing well and winning for the team,” stated Shanaka.
Shedding the companies of three key bowlers — Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana and Ehsan Malinga — by accidents was a significant setback.
“You’ve also got to make fitness a non-negotiable,” he stated.
“When you have the number of injuries we’ve had, it’s hard to get a good outcome.
“Your health stage influences your accidents. There are some gamers who cannot even get into the crew due to health points. That is one thing we have talked about lots over a number of World Cups now,” he added.
Former captain Kumar Sangakkara said Sri Lanka were in danger of becoming irrelevant in the cricket world.
“There’s numerous work to be finished in any respect ranges to course appropriate,” he wrote on X.
“We can’t do the same things over and over and expect different results when the cricket world around us has evolved so quickly. We haven’t adapted and the danger is irrelevance.”
