The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has suspended opening batter Danushka Gunathilaka till further Inquiry for his Involvement in alleged rape case, Cricket Age reliably learns.
Gunathilaka has been charged by police after an alleged sexual assault in Sydney’s east.
Gunathilaka was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning from the team hotel in Sydney’s central business district after a police investigation into reports that a 29-year-old women had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier in the week.
“We have decided to suspend him with Immediate effect from all forms of cricket. The board will expeditiously initiate a thorough inquiry into the matter and take stern action against the player if found guilty. Till then, he will not be considered for selection at any level” a top SLC official told Cricket Age.
Monday morning (November 7), Gunathilaka appeared by video link in handcuffs at a Sydney court to seek bail after he was charged with 4 counts of sexual assault, but was refused bail. Now, he will be held in a correction centre.
Gunathilaka, despite being replaced midway through the World Cup due to injury, was retained in the squad as a “stand-by player.”
The decision was taken by the team management in consultation with the doctors and selectors, as Gunathilaka was fast recovering from the injury he suffered.
Thus, it was decided to keep him with the team, as he had already acclimatized to the climatic conditions in Australia, and can continue to train with the squad with a view to immediately drafting him back into the 15-member squad should the need arise.
