Farveez Maharoof Anticipates Tough Calls After Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup Exit

Farveez Maharoof was left deeply disappointed after Sri Lanka crashed out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in a humiliating manner. He said it was shameful to see how the team performed in the must-win match, which was ultimately won by New Zealand.

"I'm going to put it very simple: it's hurtful, it's painful and it's shameful," said former Sri Lankan allrounder, Farveez Maharoof.

He said that the majority of the Sri Lankan batters gifted their wickets to New Zealand, as they played wrong shots without understanding the situation of the match.

"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," said Farveez Maharoof.

"Continuing the same trend into another game, a must-win game, shows Sri Lanka were not up to the mark with the bat." added Farveez Maharoof.

He then urged the selectors to take some hard decisions, as the team have been performing poorly in the mega events for quite some time.

"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. 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.” said Farveez Maharoof.

"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." added Farveez Maharoof.