Sri Lanka are not part of the 2025 Champions Trophy
Photo : AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Sri Lanka will not play the 2025 Champions Trophy
- Sri Lanka whitewashed the world champions Australia
- Sri Lanka have won four of their last ODI seires
Sri Lanka continued their red-hot form in ODI cricket after thrashing Australia by 174 runs in the second ODI of a two-match series on Friday (February 14) at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. This result means that the home team completed a 2-0 series over the world champions.
The Charith Asalanka-led side outclassed the Men in Yellow in both games and all three departments, having previously won the first ODI by 49 runs. This result means that Sri Lanka has now won each of their last seven bilateral ODI series at home.
This is their fourth win in their last series. In fact, since the start of 2024, the 1996 world champions have won 15 of the 23 ODIs they have played and lost just five. This includes 2-0 series victories over both 2023 World Cup finalist India and Australia.
Why Sri Lanka Are Not Playing ICC Champions Trophy
Since the start of 2024, no other team apart from Sri Lanka has won more than 10 matches, and they also have the best win/loss ratio (3.000). There is no doubt that the Asalanka-led side is the most in-form team in world cricket at the moment, but they will not be part of the 2025 Champions Trophy despite the competition's intention to see the best eight teams in the world go head-to-head in a short tournament.
Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, the qualification period for the 2025 Champions Trophy ended in 2023. The 2023 Cricket World Cup was decided as the event where the eight teams for the marquee event will be decided. The top eight teams in the league stage qualified for the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates from February 19 to March 9.
Sri Lanka narrowly missed out on qualification on Net Run Rate (NRR). The eighth, ninth, and tenth-placed teams finished with the same points (4), but Bangladesh (-1.087 NNR) took the last qualification spot for the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka (-1.419 NRR) finished ninth while the Netherlands (-1.825 NRR) finished 10th and took the wooden spoon.
West Indies, who won the tournament in 2004 failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup and had no means of qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, and Bangladesh are the eight participating teams.
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