Handed Mendis, Dickwella and Gunathilaka harsh punishments to teach them a lesson, says Aravinda de Silva

Sri Lanka, last month, failed to win a single match in their tour of England, but what left the visitors red-faced was the behavior of three experienced cricketers. Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka were all filmed breaking Covid protocols, and the protocol breach led to an ugly fallout. All three players were sent back home and suspended indefinitely with immediate effect, with SLC appointing a committee to investigate the matter.

All three players are awaiting the official judgement, but Aravinda de Silva, head of SLC’s Technical Advisory Committee, said that the trio needed to be taught a harsh lesson. De Silva claimed that Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka were let off easily by the board for past misconduct, and insisted that the board decided to hand harsh punishments in order to teach a lesson to the three players. 

“These three players have had bad records earlier in their career. If we had given a suitable punishment at that time, they would have not repeated this type of mistake. If we cannot give them the suitable punishment, they will never learn a lesson from this incident,”  de Silva said, reported Hindustan Times.

The said incident occured after the three-match T20I series, where the three players were found roaming the streets of Durham. De Silva slammed the trio, and said that the guilty players need to realize the magnitude of the offence they committed.

“They should have realised their misbehaviour and especially what was the fault they have done off the field. They should realise their responsibility and represent the country. When a bio-bubble is created they have to live according to the rules and regulations.”

Sri Lanka’s next assignment is a white-ball series against India, starting July 18, in which none of the aforementioned players will be featuring.