Sri Lanka Cricket Panel finds players influenced by fake prophet, other offenses revealed

Sri Lanka Cricket has not made any comment on the reports yet. But Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said he will take action after studying the reports.

Sri Lanka Cricket Panel finds players influenced by fake prophet, other offenses revealed

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka had a below-par performance during the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The 2022 Asia Cup champions had to compete in order to qualify for the Super 12s, which they did but couldn’t proceed to the next stage.

After their forgettable outings, controversy marred the island nations’ cricket team. Batter Danushka Gunathilaka was arrested following a sexual assault accusation on a woman in Sydney right after the team’s elimination from the tournament.

Following their exit, an independent panel was formed, and a 63-page report was revealed on Thursday. The panel investigated the off-field behavior of the players during the World Cup in October-November. It found a series of offenses amongst the players, officials, and associates. The investigators were led by retired Supreme Court Justice Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena.

Fast bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne was found guilty of his involvement in a brawl along with six teammates in a casino. Karunaratne denied a photo to one of the members of the casino, which started the fight. He was fined and given a suspended ban. According to team manager Mahindra Halangoda, the players went to the casino for dinner because “all restaurants in Australia close after 8:00 or 8:30 PM”.

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Chamika Karunaratne left burning oil lamp in his hotel

Sri Lanka
Chamika Karunaratne

Even former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, who was traveling at the expense of the Sri Lanka cricket board, reportedly opened a branch of his upmarket Ministry of Crab restaurant chain in Australia. At that time, he was the consultant coach in the T20 World Cup.

Jerome Jayaratne was sent to Melbourne for 10 days and paid $7,000, but he had no role to play with the team. He just went there to spend time with his sister, who is also related to the Rajapaksa family, which dominated the island nations for decades.

Also, some players and key officials were influenced by a man who claimed himself a prophet. Under his influence, Karunaratne left a burning oil lamp in his hotel room despite the hotel’s fire hazard warnings.

Sri Lanka Cricket has not made any comment on the reports yet. But Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said he will take action after studying the reports.

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