Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis arrested after car he was driving hit and killed 64-year-old

Sri Lankan cricketer Kusal Mendis has been arrested by Sri Lankan police in Horethuduwa for hitting a pedestrian by his vehicle at 5 am on Sunday. The 64-year-old civilian was riding a bicycle in the Colombo suburb of Panadura when he got injured by Kusal’s car. The fatal accident resulted in the civilian’s death before he could be admitted to a hospital.

As per ESPN Cricinfo, the Police media unit confirmed the news of the accident and the death of the pedestrian. Mendis will be produced before a magistrate in the next 48 hours. Also, it is still not clear if Mendis or the victim were under the influence of alcohol.

Recently, Kusal was a part of Sri Lanka’s residential training camp at Pallekele, which ended on Wednesday. The wicketkeeper-batsman has played 44 Tests, 76 ODIs and 26 T20Is for Sri Lanka. He has scored 2995 runs in Tests, 2167 runs in the ODIs and 484 runs in T20 matches.

The incident of Mandis’ arrest is a major blow for Sri Lanka Cricket. The Board is already under scrutiny over the allegations of being involved in match-fixing during the finals of the 2011 World Cup. A few days back, Former Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had accused ‘certain parties’ in Sri Lanka for fixing the historic 2011 finals.

Three former captains – Aravinda de Silva (chairman of selectors during the 2011 World Cup), Kumar Sangakkara (captain) and Mahela Jayawardene (centurion in the final) – were taken to police custody as a part of the investigation. However, they were later released by the Sri Lankan Sports Ministry due to insufficient evidence. With no evidence found, Sri Lanka police called off the fixing probe.

The International Cricket Council’s Anti Corruption General Manager Alex Marshall had also released a statement regarding the same. He stated that the organization can’t doubt the integrity of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011 as there are no proofs regarding the same.

“We have no reason to doubt the integrity of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011. The ICC Integrity Unit has looked into the recent allegations regarding the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Final 2011,” Marshall said.