We should stop watching Sri Lanka's matches even on TV: Arjuna Ranatunga

Team Sri Lanka, led by Kusal Perera, returned home from England on Tuesday where they featured in six white-ball matches only to lose five of them. The team didn’t put up even a fight in any of the matches and batsmen, especially were extremely poor. Even in the last game of the tour the visitors were bundled out for just 166 runs only for the rain to intervene and wash out the game.

No wonder the former cricketers in Sri Lanka and even the fans are not happy with the national team due to their repeated poor performances. Arjuna Ranatunga has lashed out at the team now over their show in the UK and the continuous decline of the team. He also called for the fans to boycott the team and stop watching the games on television.

Moreover, Ranatunga also took potshots at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) stating it is the result of the mismanagement from the board all these years. “We must stop watching matches even on TV. What we saw during the England tour is the culmination of accumulated mismanagement, corruption and indiscipline. The board is responsible for this sorry state of affairs,” he said according to Island Cricket.

Controversies in SL team off the field too

The tour of England was disastrous off the field too for Sri Lanka. Three of their cricketers – Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella – breached the bio-bubble protocol ahead of the ODI series. The trio was immediately called back home and are likely to face a stern punishment from the board.

The chairman of the SLC Managing Committee Arjuna De Silva was not happy with the players as the board had spent a lot to make sure players were safe in the bubble in England. “The board spent 69 million rupees ($345,000) to fly them in a chartered aircraft to keep them within a protected bio-secure bubble. “I am sad and angry at the same time,” he had said.

Sri Lanka are now due to face team India, led by Shikhar Dhawan, in three ODIs and as many T20Is starting from July 13. With the contracts issue not resolved yet, there is still a possibility that the hosts name a second string squad if the players don’t agree.