"I may have to slap them 2 or 3 times"- Arjuna Ranatunga on Sri Lankan players breaking bio-bubble protocols in England
Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has come down hard on the trio of Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella, who broke bio-bubble protocols in England. Ranatunga stated that if he had been the captain of the national side now, he might have slapped the players two or three times.
Sri Lankan cricket currently finds itself in a mess both on and off the field. The players are currently in deadlock with Sri Lanka Cricket over a new contract. On the performance front, the team recently suffered a whitewash in T20Is against England and are 2-0 down in the three-match ODI series against the same nation.
To make matters worse, Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella were recently sent home midway through the tour of England. The trio were found guilty of breaking bio-bubble protocols after pictures and videos from the players' escapade went viral on social media.
Arjuna Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup triumph, stated that the current crop of players are only looking for publicity rather than playing cricket.
He was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.lk:
“I would not allow the players to play with social media. They use Facebook, Instagram and do everything other than playing cricket. The Cricket administration was doing nothing about that. They only want publicity. If I was the captain of the team, these three players would have been clever players. I may have to slap them two or three times."
Apart from the players' indecent behavior, Ranatunga also blamed the current administrators for bringing Sri Lanka cricket's downfall in recent times.
"I hope that support and counselling will be made available" - Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara on the expelled trio
While Arjuna Ranatunga went as far as saying he would slap the three players for breaking bio-bubble protocols in England, Kumar Sangakkara hopes the trio will be given a chance to improve themselves while they face sanctions.
The former wicketkeeper-batsman said on Sky Sports:
"The three players are very senior players, one the vice-captain (Kusal Mendis). There will be an inquiry and there will be a sanction. I hope that support and counseling will be made available to keep developing them, not just skill-wise as cricketers but more as people, to get them really focused on living a positive lifestyle on and off the field."
Reports suggest that the three Sri Lankan players could be handed a lengthy ban of 12 months from international cricket. Following their final ODI against England on 4th July, the Lankans will take on India in a limited-overs series, starting on July 13.