Sport
Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan ODI Series: All you need to know

Afghanistan will lock horns with Sri Lanka on Friday, February 9, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in the first of three ODIs, just days after coming off a 10-wicket loss to their hosts in the one-off Test.
This is part of Afghanistan’s tour to Sri Lanka, which included the one-off Test earlier this week and a three-match T20I series that’s still to come.
Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan will not however take to the field as he is still recovering from back surgery. Qais Ahmad will fill in for him.
This will be the team’s first ODI series since the ICC World Cup 2023.
Sri Lanka meanwhile are coming off a 2-0 ODI series win over Zimbabwe in January.
For Afghanistan, reserve players in World Cup 2023, Gulbadin Naib and Fareed Ahmad, have made the squad for this series. Naveed Zadran, the pacer who did well in the Test against Sri Lanka, is also part of the squad as an uncapped player.
However, Najibullah Zadran is a notable absentee.
The two sides have played 12 times in ODIs, with Sri Lanka winning seven and Afghanistan four. One game ended without a result.
The last time the two sides locked horns in ODIs was in the ICC World Cup 2023, where Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets.
ODI schedule:
Match 1 – Friday February 9
Match 2 – Sunday February 11
Match 3 – Wednesday February 14
Ariana Television will broadcast the matches live from Friday. More details can be found on our social media platforms.
Squads:
Afghanistan
Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Qais Ahmad, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad
Reserves: Sharafuddin Ashraf, Shahidullah, Abdul Rahman, Bilal Sami
Sri Lanka
Kusal Mendis (c), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sahan Arachchige, Chamika Karunaratne, Janith Liyanage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Akila Dananjaya, Wanindu Hasaranga
Sport
IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by 36 runs
In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.

Gujarat Titans have beaten Mumbai Indians by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing 197 runs Mumbai could only manage to get to 160/6. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets for the Titans.
Earlier Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first. Sai Sudharsan chipped in with 41-ball 63 which helped Titans to put on a decent total on what seemed like a tricky surface.
In reply, Mumbai Indians could only score 160 for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs, with Suryakumar Yadav top-scoring with 48 off 28 balls. For Gujarat, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna claimed two wickets each.
With the result, Titans have registered their first win of the tournament while Mumbai after two games remain winless.
In today’s fixtures, Delhi Capitals will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam at 3:30 PM, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati at 7:30 PM.
Ariana Television will again broadcast this match live and exclusively across Afghanistan. Fans can tune in from 2:30 PM Kabul time.
Sport
De Kock fireworks see Kolkata thrash Rajasthan in IPL

Spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy combined to help restrict Rajasthan to 151-9 after KKR elected to field first in Guwahati.
De Kock bossed the chase with his 61-ball innings laced with eight fours and six sixes as Kolkata achieved their target with 15 balls to spare.
De Kock, who has retired from Tests and one-day international cricket for South Africa and whose T20 international future remains uncertain, showed no signs of rustiness.
“To be fair, haven’t felt any challenges yet,” De Kock said.
“Have had three months off which felt nice. Had about a 10-day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it.”
Kolkata signed De Kock in November’s auction after he was released by Lucknow Super Giants.
He handed his team a quick start, hitting two fours but then lost opening partner Moeen, run out for five.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane fell after a brisk 18 but De Kock stood firm and along with impact substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who made 22, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 83.
De Kock finished with a six off Jofra Archer as Kolkata bounced back from their opening loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Rajasthan suffered their second straight loss.
Earlier, Kolkata fast bowler Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson, bowled for 13, and Chakravarthy and Moeen soon took two wickets each.
Wicketkeeper Samson is Rajasthan’s regular captain but has been forced to play only as a batter in the first three matches due to an injury.
Chakravarthy, who starred in India’s recent Champions Trophy triumph, got stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag out caught behind for 25.
Former England all-rounder Moeen, in for the unwell Sunil Narine, stifled the opposition with his off-spin and was rewarded with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29.
The 37-year-old and Chakravarthy both struck again as Rajasthan slipped to 82-5 in 11 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling for Rajasthan and despite wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel’s 33 and 16 from Archer, they settled for a below-par total.
“I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs,” said Parag. “The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn’t so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs.”
Arora and fellow quick Harshit Rana also took two wickets each.
Kolkata, under Shreyas Iyer who is now Punjab Kings captain after a $3.17 million move in the auction, won their third IPL title last year.
The seventh match of the day will see Sunrisers Hyderabad play Lucknow Super Giants. The live broadcast of this match, on Ariana Television, will start at 6:15pm.
Sport
AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers: Myanmar defeat Afghanistan 2-1

Afghanistan’s national football team went down 2-1 to Myanmar in their first match of the third round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The match was held on Tuesday at the stadium in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar.
The only goal for Afghanistan was scored in the 14th minute by Omid Popalzay.
Afghanistan is in Group E along with Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria.
The national team’s next match will be on June 10 against Syria. The venue is still to be decided.
-
World5 days ago
Secretive Chinese network tries to lure fired US federal workers, research shows
-
Latest News4 days ago
Afghanistan has the right to access Amu River’s water: Uzbek minister
-
Climate Change5 days ago
UN and ICRC warn of serious water shortage in Afghanistan
-
Latest News4 days ago
Amnesty international urges Pakistan to halt Afghan deportations
-
International Sports5 days ago
IPL 2025: Punjab Kings secure thrilling 11-run win over Gujurat Titans
-
Latest News4 days ago
UN ‘deeply disappointed’ over ongoing ban on girls’ secondary education
-
Latest News3 days ago
Afghanistan-Iran-Europe railway corridor activated
-
Business3 days ago
Afghanistan ships first consignment to Europe via Khaf-Herat railway