Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe in the fifth match of the tri-series in Pakistan..
The cricketing world is moving towards a wave in white-ball cricket. With the IPL 2026 auction scheduled to take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi, all franchises would be ready with their excel sheets, containing the names of the players that they want to go after. That being said, the auction cannot take place without a few surprise picks.
Sri Lanka star Pathum Nissanka has been one of the most consistent run-getters for the side in recent times, especially in white-ball cricket. The 27-year-old once again set the stage ablaze in Rawalpindi with an awesome knock of an unbeaten 98 off just 58 deliveries. The knock came against Zimbabwe in the fifth fixture of the tri-series on Pakistan soil.
Zimbabwe could not do much damage after electing to bat first, and could only gather a total of 146/5 in 20 overs. Chasing a modest total, the Sri Lankans rode on the heroics of Nissanka, who single-handedly took the game home for the Lankans. As a result, Sri Lanka won by a whopping margin of nine wickets.
To add to that, Nissanka’s exploits do not come as a surprise. With the kind of consistency he has shown at the highest level over the last few years, he always had the capacity to pull a knock like this up his sleeve. The Sri Lankan T20I opener has not scoored three fifties and a hundred in his last 10 matches. Moreover, Nissanka now holds 2,326 T20I runs for Sri Lanka, the highest in the format. He went past Kusal Perera’s tally of 2,305.
Considering his quality, certainly yes. If only everything was down to just the quality of every player. Though Pathum Nissanka has got a tremendous ability with the bat, teams will have to make sure that they play him in the top-order. The opener has got most of his runs at the top of the order, and his playing style does not allow him to bat down the order.
This is exactly why teams like the Delhi Capitals (DC), who would be in search of an opener in the IPL 2026 auction will try and go after Pathum Nissanka. Franchises who have a set top-order will not try and break their bank for the Sri Lankan star batter. Nissanka has never been a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) so far, and it could be exciting to see him in the tournament.
That being said, his numbers in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) do not invoke a lot of promise, but numbers cannot be entrusted to judge the quality of a player. There have been numerous occasions when Nissanka has blistered through tremendous knocks to win games for his national side. The 27-year-old seems to know a thing or two about the art of constructing an innings, which would be handy.
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