Sri Lankan Cricket has been an essential part of the cricketing history of the world. They have been at the top mix of the teams for most of the period between 1995 and 2015. However, since 2015, there has been a drop in quality since the big names like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahila Jayawardene have left them. In between all these years, though, there have been scandals, and controversies involving Sri Lankan cricket and in this article, we will see the Top 10 Scandals involving Sri Lankan Cricket.
1. Parties, Casinos, Ladies – 2022 T20 World Cup Performance Questioned
The performance of the Sri Lankan team in the 2022 T20 World Cup was not up to the mark and on top of that there were also speculations about their off-field behaviour. There was news that a fight broke out in a casino about the food given to them and also of corruption against names like Jayaratne and Jayawardene, who were, according to the court, only traveling for their other interests in Australia and gave zero help to the team.
2. 3 Sri Lankan Players Suspended For Breaking A Bio-bubble
During the Sri Lanka Tour of England 2021, a significant embarrassment came for the Sri Lankan cricket board as three senior cricketers – Kushal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, and Danushka Gunathilaka were suspended for breaking the Bio-Bubble during their stay in Durham. There was a video that surfaced on Twitter which revealed this. At this point, where Sri Lanka had already lost the T20 series 3-0, it was a considerable embarrassment to know that they had suspended these players and won’t have the services of these three during the ODI series.
3. Bhanuka Rajapaksha Banned For Breach Of Contract
In 2021, Sri Lanka handed one of its big players, Bhanuka Rajapaksha, a suspended 1-year ban from any form of cricket due to the breach of contract during 2019-20. Bhanuka was fined a total of $5,000 on top of the ban. In an interview, he also criticized the Sri Lankan cricket board for dropping him. Note that, he was not a part of the team due to his out of shape body.
4. Sachitthra Senanayake Arrested For Match Fixing
This case is the most recent scandal of them all. On 6th September 2023, Sri Lankan Cricketer, Sachitthra Senanayake was arrest for attempting match-fixing in the Sri Lankan Premier League. Although he was not a player he contacted several active players in the league with the intention of match-fixing. The police said that he surrendered and said yes to all the charges.
5. Sri Lankan Women’s Team Sex Scandal
The Sri Lankan Women’s team has been in an ugly conversation. Recent reports from the media in the country have reported that several Sri Lankan women’s team players bribed the officials “sexually” to get selected for the team. It has got to the point that the SLC (Sri Lankan Cricket Board) has decided to conduct a full-proof inquiry regarding this issue and further investigate the allegations made.
6. Muttiah Muralitharan’s No-ball Saga In Australia
Muttiah Murlitharan was penalized for “throwing” the ball on different occasions by the same umpire. The first instance was during the Benson Hedges Series 1995-96, in the match between West Indies and Sri Lanka. Umpire Tony McQuillan called Muttiah’s off-break deliveries as no-ball with the reason of “throwing” which resulted in Murali only bowling leg-breaks the whole game. Three years later, a match involving the same umpires, the same outcome happened, which turned a bit aggressive when captain Arjuna Ranatunga signalled the team to walk of the pitch.
7. Sanath Jayasundara Banned For 7 Years For Bribing Minister
A legend of Sri Lankan cricketing history, Sanath Jayasundara was ban by the anti-corruption Tribunal of the ICC for seven years for attempting bribing. In January 2019, this decision took place as the former Sri Lankan cricket analyst attempted to bribe the then Sports Minister, Harin Fernando, to try and influence the result. For this, he got a 7-year ban from all of cricket.
8. Danushka Gunalithaka Arrested For Sexual Assault In Australia
A dark day for Sri Lankan Cricket history came on 2nd November 2022 during the T20 World Cup when Danushka Gunathilaka was arrested for the alleged rape of a local New South Wales girl he met online. After having a bad World Cup with the bat with a duck against Namibia and a further injury, this news came as a big blow to the morale of the Sri Lankan team.
9. 1996 Sri Lanka Vs India
On March 13, 1996, a very controversial match happened on the biggest stage, The World Cup. It was the World Cup Semi-final, which was the first for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka batted first and piled up a target of 252 for India, in response to which a tremendous and instant collapse happened from India which angered the home fans at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They started throwing objects at the ground which resulted in a win for Sri Lanka “by default.” There have still been speculations that some players of both teams were involved in match-fixing.
10. Sri Lankan Team Attacked In Pakistan
This was in March of 2009 when the Sri Lankan team travelled to Pakistan for a series between the countries. At the time, some off-the-field terrorism talks going were going on regarding Pakistan that used to tell that sports are out of it. It was eventually proven wrong as there was a terrorist attack on the bus of the Sri Lankan cricketers in which several players and coaching staff were hurt. Miraculously, there was no loss of life. It remains one of the worst days in all of sports.
