Virat Kohli refusing Travis Head’s handshake after a heated exchange 😭💀
If another player did this, people would call it “disrespectful.”
But when Virat does it, suddenly it becomes “KING’S AURA” 😭
The double standards are unreal.
Congratulations to Hon. C. Joseph Vijay on being sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu are connected through history, culture, enterprise, and enduring people-to-people ties across generations. Our future holds immense economic promise and opportunity as Sri Lanka and India continue to build ever closer ties and a stronger partnership.
I look forward to working together, within the strong India–Sri Lanka partnership, towards greater prosperity and progress.
The people of Sri Lanka join me in wishing you and the people of Tamil Nadu every success.
@TVKVijayHQ
Eshan Malinga comes from Ratnapura, where people dig for gems deep in the earth & somehow that feels appropriate. He grew up in a province where cricket infrastructure is something you read about in magazines, not something you actually touch & still he made the ball move at 141 kph before he was old enough to vote.
The Ranmini Battle of 2019 was his first explosion. 11 wickets in the match & a nickname that stuck: the Opanayake Express.
But velocity has a price. That same year, pushing through a national speed trial, he wrecked his back. Kind of injury that usually ends stories early. He disappeared into rehabilitation, swimming pools, invisible hours that nobody applauds.
He emerged in 2022 with debuts across all three formats for Ragama & by early 2025 was in New Zealand wearing Sri Lanka colours. Sunrisers Hyderabad paid 4 times his base price at the IPL auction.
2025 season brought 13 wickets in 7 games. Then in 2026, something shifted. With Mohammed Shami gone & Pat Cummins injured, Malinga became the unexpected leader of a young bowling unit. He has taken 12 wickets so far, but more crucially, he has taken them when it matters.
Against Delhi, he claimed 4 for 32. Against Chennai, 3 for 29 in a tight chase. Against Rajasthan, 2 for 31 & against KKR, 2 for 14.
SRH sit third on the points table right now despite losing every single toss, despite bowling second in every match, despite having no senior bowler to lean on. Malinga is the reason that young attack has held together.
The shoulder injury in early 2026 ruled him out of the T20 World Cup, cruel timing for an express bowler whose body keeps asking questions. But he has already shown he knows how to rebuild.
From Ratnapura to leading an IPL attack is not a journey you complete by accident. It requires the same patience his neighbors use when digging for sapphires, knowing the value is there if you simply refuse to stop looking.