Shocking! Praveen Jayawickrama banned by ICC

On Wednesday, October 2, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that the decision has been made to ban the 26-year-old Sri Lanka National Cricket Team bowler Perumapperuma Arachchige Kaveesha Praveen Jayawickrama.

In August 2024, the Sri Lanka bowler was charged by the ICC with three counts of breaching the Anti-Corruption Code. At that time, the ICC and SLC came to an agreement that action would be taken on Jayawickrama with respect to the LPL charge alongside the international match charges.

Praveen Jayawickrama was charged with three offenses under the code Article 2.4.4 and 2.4.7. Here are the details of the code:

Article 2.4.4 – Failing to report to the Anti-Corruption Unit, without unnecessary delay, details of an approach he received to carry out fixing in future International Matches.

Article 2.4.4 –Failing to report to the Anti-Corruption Unit, without unnecessary delay, details of an approach he received in which he was asked to approach another player, on a corrupter’s behalf, to carry out fixing in the 2021 Lanka Premier League.

Article 2.4.7 – Obstructing the investigation by deleting messages in which the approaches and offers to engage in corrupt conduct were made.

Praveen Jayawickrama Banned By ICC

Now, the International Cricket Council has decided to ban the spinner from all cricket for a year, of which six months will be suspended. Praveen Jayawickrama was slapped with the ban after he admitted breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

He has admitted that he breached Article 2.4.7 of the Code, which deals with (as quoted by ICC):

“Obstructing or delaying any investigation that may be carried out by the ACU, including concealing, tampering with, or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence or may lead to the discovery of evidence of corrupt conduct under the Anti-Corruption Code.”

Talking further about the left-arm spinner, Perumapperuma Arachchige Kaveesha Praveen Jayawickrama has represented Sri Lanka in 5 games each across all three formats. His last Test appearance came in May 2022 against Bangladesh, while his last ODI and T20I appearances came in September 2021 against South Africa and June 2022 against Australia.

Overall, he has bagged 25 wickets in Tests, 5 wickets in ODIs, and 2 wickets in T20Is. Although Praveen Jayawickrama has not played international cricket for a very long time, he has regularly featured in domestic cricket. His most recent appearance came on August 2, 2024, in the Moors vs Kurunegala clash in the Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament.

Praveen Jayawickrama would be hoping to serve his ban and make a return to the Sri Lankan setup. The Sri Lanka National Cricket Team are currently flying high in international cricket under the guidance of head coach Sanath Jayasuriya.

Sanath Jayasuriya has completely transformed the team and the Lankan Lions have delivered some memorable performances recently. They crushed India 2-0 in the home ODI series and then defeated England in their own backyard in a Test match. Then, most recently they hammered New Zealand in a two-match Test series by the margin of 2-0.