‘Hurtful, painful, shameful’ – Maharoof calls for ‘hard decisions’ after Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup exit | CricTracker

Farveez Maharoof has opened up on Sri Lanka’s “hurtful, painful, and shameful” exit from the T20 World Cup 2026 after a convincing 61-run loss against New Zealand on February 25 at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium.

It was Sri Lanka’s third loss on the trot, having started the tournament with as many wins against Ireland, Oman and Australia. The sequence of losses commenced with a six-wicket loss to Zimbabwe in their final group-stage game, followed by a 51-run defeat to England in the Super Eights, where they were shot out for 95 chasing 146. That defeat had pushed Dasun Shanaka and Co. into a must-win territory, and the drubbing against New Zealand brought the curtains down on their campaign.

“I’m going to put it very simple: it’s hurtful, it’s painful, and it’s shameful,” Maharoof told ESPNcricinfo while commenting about the co-host’s exit from the tournament.

“It’s not a pitch that you can play through the line, I get it. But the way some of the batters just gifted their wickets away, apart from Pathum Nissanka’s delivery [from Matt Henry], every other dismissal was a soft dismissal, giving the wickets away, just like the England game, where all ten were soft dismissals. Continuing the same trend into another game, a must-win game, shows Sri Lanka were not up to the mark with the bat.”

Sri Lanka had New Zealand firmly in their grip at 84 for 6, including a collapse of 0 for 3, before skipper Mitchell Santner (47 off 26) and Cole McConchie (31 off 23) forged a counterattacking 84-run seventh-wicket stand in just 47 balls to take New Zealand to a competitive 168 for 7.

In response, Sri Lanka lost Pathum Nissanka, their most prolific scorer in the tournament, on the first ball courtesy of a Matt Henry peach. Wickets continued to tumble from there, as Sri Lanka slipped to 77 for 7 before being restricted to 107 for 8 to crash out of the tournament with a massive loss.

“It’s becoming a bad habit to have. I have been doing this [analysis] for seven-eight years, I keep saying the same old thing: once in a while, a good game, and our hopes are high; all of a sudden, come crashing down to the earth,” Maharoof said, referring to the Australia game, which Sri Lanka won on the back of Nissanka’s unbeaten 52-ball 100.

“It’s not the first time. I just hope something down the line, this has to come to an end, some hard decisions have to be made. I think after the next game, before the next series starts, Sri Lanka’s selectors and the think tank should really think of the future, what are the capabilities of the players, who should stick and who should not stick, and move on. I expect probably in the next couple of weeks, some hard decisions are going to be made. If not, I will be very surprised,” Maharoof concluded.

Sri Lanka will play their final Super 8 fixture against Pakistan in Pallekele on February 28.

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