Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was repeatedly taunted ‘this is not IPL’ before Dambulla spat; hosts regret saga

A Sri Lankan player reportedly had been trying to get under the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's skin since the opening match of the tournament on June 9.

Fresh details have emerged from the Dambulla flashpoint involving Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. While the 15-year-old has faced criticism on social media for losing his cool after India's Super Over defeat to Sri Lanka A on Monday, new revelations suggest the incident may have been the culmination of sustained sledging that began much earlier in the tri-series.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was involved in a heated altercation with Sri Lanka A players on Monday

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Sri Lanka A player Vishen Halambage — one of the players involved in the verbal exchanges that triggered Sooryavanshi's angry reaction after Monday's game — had been trying to get under the teenager's skin since the opening match of the tournament on June 9 at the same venue.

Sources familiar with the developments told the publication that Halambage repeatedly sledged Sooryavanshi during that first encounter and continued doing so throughout Monday's contest. The taunts reportedly intensified when the Indian opener walked out to bat in the Super Over. Among the remarks directed at him was: "Go home, this is not the IPL."

The report added that Halambage continued the verbal barrage even after Sooryavanshi failed to make a significant impact in the Super Over, which Sri Lanka A won. This time, the Sri Lankan player allegedly charged towards both Sooryavanshi and his batting partner Suryansh Shedge. It was at that point that the Indian youngster reacted, before senior Sri Lanka international Niroshan Dickwella intervened and prevented the confrontation from escalating further.

Sri Lanka express regret

The report further stated that several senior Sri Lankan cricketers have privately expressed regret over the incident that overshadowed their team's dramatic victory in Dambulla and later reached out to Sooryavanshi.

It is understood that these were not necessarily members of the Sri Lanka A squad involved in the tri-series, but rather senior players who had followed Sooryavanshi's record-breaking IPL 2026 campaign and were disappointed by how events unfolded.

Earlier this week, Cricbuzz had also reported that some members of the Sri Lanka A camp felt an apology should be offered to the Indian team, although it remains unclear whether any formal apology was eventually made. The report suggested that several individuals within the home camp were unhappy with the manner in which the post-match scenes unfolded and the attention they drew away from Sri Lanka A's victory.