Arjuna Ranatunga opines on SL players’ bio-bubble breach

Former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga is known for his no-nonsense and straightforward approach. Even when he was playing cricket during the 80s and 90s, the former left-hand batter would take the fight down to the opposition by being a tough competitor. He is also known to be very disciplined and hence he has also come down hard on Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, and Niroshan Dickwella, who breached the bio-bubble norms during Sri Lanka’s limited-overs series against England.

All the three players were sent home and Ranatunga was not impressed by the trio and stated if he would have been in charge of the team, then he would have slapped the players two or three times. With the three senior players suspended, the Sri Lankan team have been more weakened against even a B-looking strong England side.

The change in the format too has not helped the visitors as they have already lost the ODI series 2-0, with a game to go. With the team facing problems one after the other, the bio-bubble saga by Mendis, Gunathilaka, and Dickwella has not gone well with Ranatunga, former Sri Lankan players, and fans.

While speaking to Daily Mirror, the former Sri Lankan didn’t mince words and said: “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.”

Kumar Sangakkara wants the three players to be supported and counseled

While Ranatunga wanted to slap the trio, cricketer-turned-commentator Kumar Sangakkara had rather had an interesting take on the matter by suggesting Mendis, Gunathilaka, and Dickwella should be given support and counseling by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board (SLC) to come out as better individuals from the unpleasant episode.

“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.”