Sachithra Senanayake faces travel ban following match-fixing charges
Former Sri Lanka mystery spinner Sachithra Senanayake has been charged for fixing in multiple matches, following which, he has been banned from travelling overseas for the next three months. Notably, the 38-year-old represented the national team in just one Test match, 49 ODIs and 24 T20 Internationals. Later on, in 2020, he was accused of match-fixing in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.
The former spinner also contacted two cricketers over the telephone with a match-fixing proposal. The details of the same haven’t been made public but as per reports, the Attorney General’s Department has now been instructed by the Special Investigation Unit of the Sports Ministry to frame criminal charges against the Colombo-born cricketer.
Notably, Senanayake made his international debut in 2012 against South Africa. He quickly made a name for himself as the batters found it extremely difficult to tackle him in the middle. Playing in the spin-friendly conditions of Sri Lanka, his reputation only grew before Kolkata Knight Riders bought him in the IPL auction.
However, things changed drastically for him in international cricket. Senanayake’s career was cut short as his action was suspected, leading to a ban from international cricket in 2014. He made his return in 2015 but wasn’t much effective as he played his last international match in 2016 against Australia. Later on, he focused only on domestic cricket as he played a total of 112 matches in First Class cricket. He has 567 wickets to his name in the process and when it comes to List A cricket, Senanayake played 186 matches, picking up 283 wickets.
One of the most memorable incidents of his international career was when the former cricketer dismissed Jos Buttler in the non-striker’s end in 2014. Notably, the current England skipper was warned in the previous over but even so, he was further away from the crease, leading to Senanayake removing the bells. The incident created quite a drama and the cricketer faced a lot of criticism from the Edgbaston crowd as Sri Lanka went on to win the match by six wickets.
