Sri Lanka has won their opening game in the 2026 T20 World Cup against Ireland. The co-hosts did struggle in the middle order while batting; however, the spinners made the job easy, earning a 20-run victory. Ahead of their next game, Sri Lankan batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has made a serious comment on the Indian cricket team batters.
The Southpaw believes that the Men in Blue batters use special bats that are not produced in any part of the world. This has been the reason for striking powerful and long-range shots in the game of cricket. He also believes that these bats cannot be bought by any other cricketers across the globe. The comment comes from Bhanuka Rajapaksa in a recent interview.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa said in an interview, claiming that Indian players are using bats that generate more power. He said (as quoted by NewsWire), “Indian players have bats that are far superior to the best bats we get. It feels as though a layer of rubber has been applied. I can’t imagine how that’s possible. These bats can’t even be bought by others — all players know this.”
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This is not the first time that any former player has questioned India’s use of cricketing equipment in the World Cup events. Previously, back in the 2023 World Cup, many former Pakistan cricketer Hasan Raza questioned India getting special balls from ICC or BCCI, due to which the players are getting extra swing on batting-friendly tracks.
Raza further said the ICC should conduct proper inspections of the balls used by India in the Cricket World Cup matches. He was then lashed out by Wasim Akram and many other former India cricketers. Apart from Raza also said that the Men in Blue were manipulating the Decision Review System (DRS). However, his comments were termed as ‘comedy’ by cricketer-turned commentator Aakash Chopra.
Now, Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s comments have gained attention. India has played fearless cricket in the white-ball format, with the template being set by former India captain Rohit Sharma. They continued playing in that style in the T20 format as well, with high-risk and high-reward games. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, the two left-handed flamboyant openers has been destructive for the side.
India have set a template of playing T20 cricket
Especially the former batter, as he strikes the ball hard, and has been India’s best T20 batter since his debut after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Except for them, Hardik Pandya is also a hard hitter of the ball who strikes at over 150. Most of the batters from India use a bit of curve-shaped bats from the bottom that helps them to gain more power.
However, those bats can also be customised as per the batters’ requirements, and any batter from the world can do it. Thus, the allegation by Bhanuka Rajapaksa of using special bats used by the Indian team remains baseless and false.
Sri Lanka has been struck with an injury problem as Wanindu Hasaranga will be missing out on the rest of the T20 World Cup, as he suffered a hamstring injury in the first game.
Also Read: Wanindu Hasaranga RULED OUT of T20 World Cup 2026
