Chamari Athapaththu

Athapaththu was shortlisted for the ICC Women's Player of the Month award for September 2026. The nomination recognised her all-round displays during the Women's Asia Cup and the Asian Games, including a 7/5 spell against Indonesia.

Athapaththu scored an unbeaten 106 off 61 balls and took a wicket in a spell that earned her Player of the Match at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026. Her century carried Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket win over Ireland in Bristol, despite her earlier admission that she had felt like a failure as captain.

Athapaththu returned from injury and was named Player of the Series as Sri Lanka won the three-match Twenty20 International series 3–0 in Bangladesh. She was also the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker of the series, helping Sri Lanka level the earlier ODI contest.

Sri Lanka coach Jamie Siddons said Chamari Athapaththu had no immediate plans to retire, indicating that she remained central to the national side's long-term plans. The comments followed continued speculation about her future after the 2025 ODI World Cup.

Chamari Athapaththu became the first Sri Lankan woman to reach 4,000 runs in Women's ODIs, marking another major milestone in her international career. Sri Lanka Cricket publicly congratulated her for the achievement after her innings against Bangladesh Women.

Athapaththu suffered a cramp in her right leg during Sri Lanka's Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 match against England and briefly left the field on a stretcher. Team officials later confirmed that she would return to bat, easing concerns that she had suffered a more serious injury.