Rajasthan Royals assistant coach Trevor Penney on Saturday (May 23, 2026) dismissed concerns over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s fielding abilities, insisting that the teenage batting sensation has been used as an Impact Substitute purely to keep him fresh for batting duties.

The 15-year-old, who recently earned a call-up to the India A squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, has largely featured as a batting-only option in the ongoing Indian Premier League season. That usage pattern had prompted questions around his fielding standards and athleticism.

Penney, however, made it clear that Sooryavanshi’s exclusion from the field had nothing to do with his abilities.

“He is a very good fielder. He has got great hands. He moves well. He dives. He anticipates. He has got all that,” Penney said on the eve of Rajasthan’s crucial league fixture.

According to the former India fielding coach, the Royals management has merely tried to optimise the teenager’s workload through the tournament.

“Sometimes with him opening the batting, him going in in the second innings being fresh, it’s worked for us,” Penney explained. “There is no specific reason why he is a bad fielder or we are not playing him in the field. It’s nothing to do with that.”

Penney added that match situations and combinations had occasionally forced the team to prefer more experienced fielders on the park.

“But generally it’s been to keep him fresh for his batting,” he said.

The Royals think-tank also appeared impressed by Sooryavanshi’s maturity despite his age, particularly highlighting his game awareness during a recent chase.

“You saw in the last game he had 10 off 11 balls and he was so determined to win that game. That’s why he didn’t go in and just try and hit from ball one,” Penney said. “He has really got a good brain for a young guy as well.”

The Sri Lankan government has imposed a 50% surcharge on vehicle imports — excluding motorbikes and three-wheelers – considering the continuing slide of the country’s currency.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is also the finance minister, in a notification on Saturday (May 16, 2026) said “by this order levy on imported goods specified in the schedule here to a surcharge at the rate of 50% on applicable customs duty effect from May 16 for a period of three months”.

The rupee has seen over 3% depreciation against the dollar by mid this month due to prevailing external pressures — primarily the Iran war — which has led to a massive surge in fuel import bill.

The rupee, which was 309 to 310 against the dollar at the beginning of the year, currently stands at over 322.

Calling it a “temporary” measure, Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando told reporters that the move is effectively aimed at making importers delay purchases for three months, a move that could potentially save foreign currency reserves.

He said the applicable customs duty for cars currently stands at 30%.

Sri Lanka not averse to using Indian rupee as common currency: President Wickremesinghe

The island’s foreign reserves, which stood at $7 billion by the end of March, declined to $6.76 billion by the end of April, mainly due to high energy costs caused by the West Asia conflict, according to central bank data.

Most Asian currencies have come under pressure in recent sessions, weakening against the U.S. dollar amid rising oil prices, geopolitical tensions and renewed demand for safe-haven assets.

Sri Lankan authorities sealed the state-owned Lanka Coal Company’s headquarters in Colombo amid accusations of supplying low-grade coal, causing massive losses to the island nation, officials said.

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) sealed the office on Saturday (April 11, 2026) following a complaint filed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Secretary, demanding a probe into all coal imports for power generation since 2009.

Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by 25% on Sunday (March 22, 2026), the second increase in two weeks, as the country prepared for more impact from the war in West Asia.

Regular petrol was increased to 398 rupees ($1.30) per litre, up from 317 rupees, while diesel, the fuel commonly used for public transport, rose by 79 rupees to 382.

Iran-Israel war: Follow LIVE updates on March 22, 2026

Last week, the government ordered an 8% increase in retail fuel prices and introduced rationing to limit consumption.

“We hope to achieve a 15% to 20% reduction in fuel consumption with the latest increase,” an official at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said.

He said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told them last week that the country must prepare for a prolonged conflict in West Asia that could affect the island’s energy supplies.

The president ordered a four-day working week from last Wednesday (March 18, 2026) and asked employers to reintroduce work-from-home arrangements where possible.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20% of global oil exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against it, now entering its fourth week.

Sri Lanka imports all of its oil and also buys coal for electricity generation.

Sri Lanka buys refined petroleum products from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, while crude oil for its Iran-built refinery is sourced from West Asia.

The government has warned that the fighting in West Asia, and a prolonged war, could seriously undermine its efforts to emerge from the economic meltdown of 2022.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in 2022 after the country ran out of foreign exchange. Since then, Colombo has secured a $2.9 billion IMF bailout.

Sri Lanka discharged from hospital 22 Iranian sailors who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a U.S. submarine, officials said on Sunday (March 8, 2026).

The sailors were treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday (March 4) after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

“Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” a medical officer at the hospital told AFP.

He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also at the hospital.

Those discharged from hospital overnight had been taken to a beach resort in the same district.

Sri Lankan authorities said the survivors from the Dena were being handled according to international humanitarian law, and the government had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance.

The island is also providing safe haven for another 219 Iranian sailors from a second ship, the IRIS Bushehr, that was allowed to berth a day after the Dena was sunk.

Sailors from the Bushehr have been moved to a Sri Lanka Navy camp at Welisara, just north of the capital Colombo, and their ship taken over by Sri Lanka’s Navy.

Sri Lanka announced it was taking the Bushehr to the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, but an engine failure and other technical and administrative issues had delayed the movement, a Navy spokesman said.

Sri Lanka has denied claims that it was under pressure from Washington not to allow the Iranians to return home, and said Colombo will be guided solely by international law and its own domestic legislation.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the disposition of the Bushehr crew and Iranian sailors rescued at sea was up to Sri Lanka.

“The United States, of course, respects and recognises Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in the handling of this situation,” the spokesperson told AFP in Washington.

India, meanwhile, said on Saturday (March 7) that it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on “humane” grounds after it too reported engine problems.

The three ships were part of a multi-national fleet review held by India before the war in West Asia started last week.

“I think it was the humane thing to do, and I think we were guided by that principle,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday (March 7).

The Lavan docked in the south-west Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday (March 4).

“A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility,” Mr. Jaishankar said.

Sri Lanka will treat Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate according to international law, a Minister said on Saturday (March 7, 2026), following reports Washington was pressuring Colombo to not repatriate them.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told a conference in New Delhi that Sri Lanka was caring for 32 sailors from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena under Colombo’s international treaty obligations.

The frigate was sunk by a U.S. submarine on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.

Sri Lanka sent its Navy to rescue survivors and recover 84 bodies.

Asked if Colombo was under pressure from the U.S. to not repatriate the Iranians, Mr. Herath did not answer directly.

“We have taken all the steps according to international laws,” Mr. Herath said.

Sri Lanka also provided safe haven to a second Iranian warship, the IRIS Bushehr, and evacuated its 219 crew a day after the Dena was torpedoed.

The ship was taken to Trincomalee on Sri Lanka’s northeast coast after reporting engine problems.

India, meanwhile, said Saturday (March 7, 2026) it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on “humane” grounds after it too reported operational problems.

The three ships were part of a multi-national fleet review held by India before the war in West Asia started last Saturday (February 28, 2026).

“I think it was the humane thing to do and I think we were guided by that principle,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said.

The Lavan docked in the southwest port of Kochi on Wednesday (March 4, 2026).

“A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility,” said Mr. Jaishankar.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said this week that Colombo would follow the Hague Convention, which requires a neutral state to hold combatants of a warring state until hostilities end.

A senior administration official said Colombo was in talks with the International Committee of the Red Cross to deal with the survivors of the torpedoed ship.

International humanitarian law applied to the survivors from the Dena, an official said, and the wounded could be repatriated at their request.

Iranian diplomats in Colombo said they have asked for the remains of 84 sailors killed in the U.S. attack to be taken back to Iran.

Sri Lanka rescued 32 “critically wounded” sailors aboard the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which sank Wednesday (March 4, 2026) just outside the island’s territorial waters, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said. Additionally, Sri Lanka’s Navy has recovered “a few bodies”, a spokesman said 

No information was immediately available on the cause of the explosion that sank the vessel, but Ms. Herath told Parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island’s south.

The 180-crew frigate had issued a distress call at dawn.

Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry said it was searching for the other crew of the IRIS Dena, which went down about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the island.

“We have found a few bodies from the area where the ship had gone down,” local navy spokesman Buddhika Sampath told reporters in Colombo, adding that the search for others was continuing.

Ms. Herath said two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation, but did not say what caused the Iranian warship to sink.

An opposition legislator asked in Parliament whether the vessel had been bombed as part of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran, but there was no immediate response from the government.

Mr. Sampath said their operation was in line with Sri Lanka’s maritime obligations and that 32 Iranian sailors were evacuated to the main hospital in Galle, 115 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital Colombo.

“We responded to the distress call under our international obligations, as this is within our search and rescue area in the Indian Ocean,” Mr. Sampath told AFP.

Both Sri Lanka’s Navy and the Air Force said they were not releasing footage of the rescue because it involved the military of another state.

Police stepped up security outside the Galle hospital as the wounded Iranians were brought there by the local Navy.

A section of the powerful Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka has criticised the government over what they termed an “organised campaign being run by vested interests to sully Buddhism”, the majority religion, and monks.

Issuing a 10-point ultimatum, the monks said the stature of Buddhism and monks was being “politically undermined” and called for urgent government attention.

Addressing a gathering, leading monk Muruththettuwe Ananda said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had called him to persuade him from going ahead with the meeting, attended by monks from all provinces.

“He asked me to come to have talks with him and to stop this,” Ananda said.

Article 9 of the country’s constitution warrants the head of state and the government to foster Buddhism, the religion of 74% of the population, while preserving the rights of other religions.

The monks claimed that “organised social media campaigns are being run by vested interests and the government needs to pay attention to it”.

“We urge the government to stop it,” Ven Kotapola Rathanapala, another leading monk, said.

Over the last year, some politicians have been openly critical of the monks.

Several monks were arrested in the eastern district of Trincomalee for violating coastal conservation laws in trying to put up makeshift veneration sites.

They charged that local ruling party leaders were behind the arrests of the monks.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka on Thursday lauded batting consultant Vikram Rathour for his “value addition” ahead of the T20 World Cup, saying his emphasis on adopting an aggressive approach has helped the batters play more freely.

Rathour, who helped India secure the 2024 T20 World Cup during his five-year stint with the team, was appointed Sri Lanka’s batting consultant last month for the ICC showpiece.

“Vikram Rathour being a good addition to our side,” Shanaka said while addressing a captains’ day event alongside seven other skippers from participating teams.

“His knowledge and his nature — he always wanted us to go in the attacking mood which allows most players to free themselves which I really do like, he is a good value addition to the team.”

Shanaka and his players have come under pressure following unimpressive home performances since the beginning of the year.

Sri Lanka lost 1-2 to Pakistan in a T20I series in early January and were comprehensively beaten by England in both white-ball series that concluded earlier this week.

The Sri Lankan batting unit struggled in both series, though the captain defended his batters.

“Don’t see any failures in the batters it always depended on the wickets and the choice of shots we played,” Shanaka said, adding that there will be improvements in the World Cup.

The team faced anger from irate local fans at Pallekele after losing the T20I series two days ago.

“I hope for support from the fans. It is important for us to play well for their sake and for the good of the team. We are aware of the national pride,” Shanaka said.

“Fans have been supporting us. I will tell the fans that we didn’t play well in the last 3 games to get the correct results though we tried hard. We are sorry for that.”

Sri Lanka will play their first match of the T20 World Cup against Ireland on Sunday.

Sri Lanka named a 17-member squad led by Charith Asalanka on Wednesday (January 21, 2026) for a three-match ODI tournament against England, the first home series in just over seven years.

The opening game will be on Thursday (January 22) with the second on Saturday (January 24).

The final is on Tuesday (January 27), with all three to be played at the Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo.

England’s last ODI tour of Sri Lanka was in 2018 when they won the series 3-1.

Sri Lanka squad: Charith Asalanka (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pavan Rathnayake, Dhananjaya de Silva, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan and Eshan Malinga.