Sports
Mendis under the radar after Bloomfield complaint
by Rex Clementine
Within days after being handed the captaincy of the ODI team, Kusal Mendis has got under the radar following an incident at Reid Avenue during a domestic one-day game involving Bloomfield and SSC.
Mendis was dismissed for a second ball duck and on his way back to the pavilion, he is alleged to have smashed the dressing room door. Following that incident, he had got involved in an altercation with the Manager of Bloomfield scolding him in filth for the poor wicket prepared for the game.
Bloomfield had brought the incident to the attention of match officials but none of them had seen the incident, and no CCTV footage of the incident were available either.
The matter has been referred to Sri Lanka Cricket and it remains to be seen what action the board will take. Some observers say that with no evidence available, it will be hard for the board to take action; one man’s word against the other. Anyway, in recent times, the board has let players off with mere slap on the wrists.
However, on the contrary, there is some pressure for the board to take action against the player as Mendis has been a serial offender.
There is a push for the player to be handed one game suspension from international cricket just to drive home a point that a captain of a nation cannot behave like a thug.
Mendis captained Sri Lanka during the World Cup filling in for the injured Dasun Shanaka. But a mere couple of days after being given the captaincy on a full-time basis, to bring the game into disrepute wouldn’t have been what the selectors would have expected.
Mendis was one of the players sent home from UK for breaching the bio-secure bubble in 2021. Although the independent judge who conducted the inquiry recommended a two-year ban, SLC reduced it to one year and further cut it down by six months enabling him to resume international cricket a few months after the incident.
Mendis has a history of discipline issues, and his progress as a top-notch batsman has been hindered due to these off the field distractions.
SSC also has promised to look at the matter seriously. Mendis although has been named Sri Lanka’s ODI captain, the club is captained by Charith Asalanka, a more sensible man.
Zimbabwe will arrive in Colombo later this week for a three match ODI and T-20 series.
The remainder of PSL 2025 has been postponed indefinitely. The PCB cited the “worsening of the situation” at the Pakistan-India border as the reason, saying the board had acted on advice from the Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The board said it had “sincere regard for the mental well-being of participating players and the sentiments of our foreign players, and we respect the concerns of their families who want to see them back home” and that was considered when making the decision.
The development came less than 24 hours after the PCB had announced that the remaining eight games of the PSL would be played in the UAE, without specifying the dates or the venues, with the expectation that it would take about a week to resume.
Overseas players as well as Pakistani players who currently hold visas to the UAE were scheduled to leave on Friday night, with the remaining visas being applied for over the weekend. That, however, has changed, and the teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect, with travel back home being arranged for foreign players.
There is no word yet on when, or if, the remaining games will be played. The postponement came hours after the IPL was temporarily suspended owing to the tensions between the two countries.
The PSL held an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, and involved the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi meeting with foreign players, who overwhelmingly expressed a desire to relocate the league to the UAE.
“The PCB recognises the efforts and support of its partners, franchises, participating players, broadcasters, sponsors, and organisers in having ensured the smooth conduct of the tournament thus far, however; cricket while being a unifying force and a source of joy, must take a respectful pause…” the PCB statement said.
[Cricinfo]
World Relays 2025
A ‘full strength Sri Lanka 4×400 metres mixed relay team’ will compete against formidable European powerhouses when they take part in the first heat of the relay on day one of the World Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday.
“We will field our best four for the heats,” said W.M.G. Thushara, the mamager cum coach of the Sri Lanka team in an interview with The Island after reaching Guangzhou yesterday.
There is one junior athlete in the six member team but Sri Lankan authorities have decided to field the full strength team in the heats.
“It will be Nadeesha Ramanayake, Nishendra Fernando, Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana as we are planning to produce our best performace,” Thushara said.
Ramanayake, Kumarage and Dharshana were part of the team that established a new national record in the mixed relay at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2023. Only missing member from that team is Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka team will compete in the first heat where Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and hosts China are the others. The first two from the heats will directly qualify for the World Relays and also the World Championships to be held in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka fielded only the mixed relay team for the World Relays despite the men’s 4×400 team qualifying for the event. The World Relays starting today is the main qualifying competition for relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
by Reemus Fernando
(Cricbuzz)
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