Upul Tharanga could face an 8-month ban

The Sri Lankan limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga has been on the receiving end this month. Under his leadership, the Lankans lost the first 2 ODIs, and the skipper was banned for 2 games due to slow over rate. Tharanga was banned earlier too, during the Champions Trophy because of the same reason. Sri Lanka were three overs behind the ideal rate, even though the 2nd ODI was reduced to 47 overs. India won the game by 3 wickets. Tharanga now runs the risk of getting a severe ban in the coming time, as he has been handed match bans on two occasions in a span of three months.

Bigger ban possible

If Tharanga once again commits the slow over rate mistake in a year’s time, then he might as well have to serve a minimum 8-month ban from international cricket. Chamara Kapugedera led the side in the 3rd ODI against India, but the result was the same as the visitors clinched a victory by 6 wickets with 29 balls to spare. Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged the man of the match for his career best figures of 5/27. Rohit Sharm too, played a match winning hand of 124, and remained unbeaten until the end along with MS Dhoni, to give India an unassailable 3-0 lead.

After the game, the Sri Lankan skipper for the match said: “I thought it was a good wicket, so put some score on the board and hopefully we can defend, and like the last game we hoped it would grip a bit in the evening. Things didn’t go to our plans. We discussed about not playing dot balls in the middle overs, but things didn’t work out. 260-275 would have been a challenging score. I enjoyed captaincy – it was pressure, but I enjoyed it, and hopefully we can win next time.”