By For 31 year old Danushka Gunathialaka Cricket and indiscipline go hand in glove – but this time it has been one of the most serious allegations for which he has been accused of in Australia.
His seven-year-old international career in Cricket has been marred with more controversies than his performance.
It also started off just two years after he was picked to the national team in 2015.
He started off with a suspension of six limited International matches in 2017 after he missed out on the training sessions, turning up for a match without the required gear and disobeying the trainers.
Gunathialaka managed to make an appeal and get the penalty reduced to three matches, but was fined 20 percent of the annual contract fee by the Cricket Board.
Just three months later, in January 2018 he was officially reprimanded by the International Cricket Council after an exchange of words with Bangladeshi cricket during a tournament in Sri Lanka. The incident led to hatred against the visiting Bangladeshi team and eventually Lankan supporters backing the rival Indian team who were involved in a tri-nation tournament.
But six months later again he was suspended from International Cricket for breaching the player’s code of conduct by violating a team curfew.
Gunathialaka was also accused of raping a Norwegian woman in a hotel room at Colombo, but after a Police investigation, they said that Gunatilake was not at fault.
Just last year again the ICC reprimanded Gunathilaka for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for using offensive, indecent and inappropriate language towards a West Indies batsman.
In April 2021, again the Sri Lanka Cricket Board initiated disciplinary action against the cricketer after a brawl in a hotel in Matara over a woman. Gunathialaka claimed the allegations were false, but an inquiry revealed that his behavior was unprofessional. He was ordered to undergo counseling sessions.
But again two months later Gunathialaka along with Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella was accused of breaching the team’s ‘bio-bubble’ during its tour to England at a time when COVID-19 was at its peak. They were suspended for one year, but after they appealed the suspension was lifted.
And now comes the most serious charge of rape which also has brought disrepute to the entire Sri Lankan team.
Despite failing to qualify for the T20 world cup semi-finals the Sri Lankan team showed improved performances with close finishes in the matches they lost,
But the Gunathialaka incident has brought a bizarre end to the tour
