Sri Lanka’s ignominious exit from the T20 World Cup in Australia was accompanied by partying in casinos, corruption and the influence of false prophets.
Batter Dhanushka Gunathilaka was arrested hours after the tournament ended early in Sri Lanka and charged with her four counts of sexually assaulting a woman in Sydney.
An independent panel investigating Sri Lanka’s off-pitch behavior during his World Cup in October and November uncovered a range of misconduct among players, officials and staff.
Asian champions Sri Lanka failed to advance to the knockout stages after being overwhelmed by Namibia in their opening match and finishing fourth in their Super 12 group.
Bowler Chamika Karunaratne got into a brawl with six teammates at a casino after her fellow players objected to taking pictures of her, the panel’s 63-page report said. . Karunaratne was given a fine and a suspended sentence last year.
Team manager Mahinda Halangoda told investigators that “all restaurants in Australia close after 8pm, so the players went to the casino for dinner.”
00 or 8:
30.30pm,” and the venue offered the only food available.The panel disagreed.
The five-man committee recommended that the casino ban the player from traveling abroad and allow his wife to enter the hotel room.
Former high-performance manager Jerome Jayaratne was not part of the team but was sent to Melbourne for 10 days and given $7,000, according to documents seen by AFP. Jayaratne is related by marriage to the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for decades, including the president who was ousted last year after mass protests.
Jayaratne did not contribute anything to the team on this trip, instead spending it with her sister, the panel reported.
Former skipper Mahera Jayawarden has opened a branch of his luxury restaurant chain Ministry of Crab in Australia, having arrived as an “advisory coach” at the expense of the cricket board, the panel reported.
Investigators, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena, have called for a full scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s cricket commission and called on the sports minister to seize the commission’s documents to prevent evidence from being destroyed.
The man claiming to be a prophet exerted considerable influence over some team members and key officials, the panel said, calling for a more thorough investigation. Under his influence, bowler Karnalatne left an oil lamp burning in his room despite warnings of fire danger from the hotel, he added.
Sri Lanka had no immediate comment from his cricket, but sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe said he would study the report and act on it to ensure team discipline and root out corruption.
The committee also called for improving the physical fitness of the national team players.