Sri Lanka Suspends Danushka Gunathilaka From International Cricket Pending Inquiry

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on Sunday (July 22), suspended Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of international cricket, pending inquiry. The board announced the news through a media release.

The Sri Lankan board took the dire step after an initial inquiry following the team management’s complaint that the player had violated the ‘Player Code of Conduct’.

Gunathilaka is currently a part of the Test team that is playing against South Africa. The suspension will come into effect immediately at the conclusion of the ongoing second Test at Colombo. SLC has also decided to withhold Gunathilaka’s fee for the match until they get the outcome of the investigation. The board is yet to release the full details of the offence that has landed Gunathilaka  in troubled waters.

This is not the first time, Gunathilaka has been handed a ban by SLC for disciplinary reasons. He received a six-match ban from white-ball cricket for misconduct in October last year. The incident had occurred during the series against Pakistan when he had allegedly skipped a training session after late night party.

The suspension was later revised to three matches, the remaining three matches being part of a suspended sentence over a one-year period. The remaining period of the suspension could come into force in the event of any further disciplinary breaches. He had also been fined 20% of his annual contract fee.

In January this year, he received an official reprimand for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ODI tri-series final in Mirpur. As a result, he ended up accumulating one demerit point to his disciplinary record.

Gunathilaka has so far represented Sri Lanka in 4 Tests, 33 ODIs and 15 T20Is. He has scored over 1,000 international runs in addition to picking up 12 wickets.