'Slap them': Arjuna Ranatunga on how to make Sri Lankan players more disciplined

As the pandemic rages across the globe, cricketers still have to be a part of a bio-bubble environment. While players have been strictly asked to follow these guidelines, three Sri Lankan players were recently spotted breaking the protocol which led to their ouster from the series against India.

Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who famously led Sri Lanka to their only ICC 50-over World Cup triumph way back in 1996, minced no words while reacting to the incident and said he would have slapped the troika of vice-captain Kusal Mendis, wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella and opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka for their careless attitude.

“I would not allow the players to play with social media. They use Facebook, Instagram and do everything other than playing cricket. The Cricket administration was doing nothing about that. They only want publicity. If I was the captain of the team, these three players would have been clever players. I may have to slap them two or three times,” Ranatunga told Daily Mirror.

Clearly upset, Ranatunga added that with the help of counseling, the three players can learn from their mistakes.

“The three players are very senior players, one the vice-captain (Kusal Mendis). There will be an inquiry and there will be a sanction. I hope that support and counseling will be made available to keep developing them, not just skill-wise as cricketers but more as people, to get them really focused on living a positive lifestyle on and off the field,” the 57-year-old added.