Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has officially lifted the ban imposed on cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka. He was accused in a sexual assault case during the T20 World Cup 2022 and was banned by SLC. But recently, he was acquitted of all charges by the Disrict Court of New South Wales and now that the ban on him has been lifted, the left-handed batterhas become eligible for selection again.
Gunathilaka featured only in one game, against Namibia, for Sri Lanka in last year’s T20 World Cup before getting ruled out with an injury. Coming back to the ban lifted, Sri Lanka Cricket officially released a statement allowing the cricketer to ‘resume his regular cricket activities’.
“After careful evaluation of Mr. Gunathilaka’s exoneration and with due consideration to his cricketing career and its impact on the cricketing ambitions of the nation, the Inquiry Panel, headed by Retired High Court Judge, Sisira Ratnayake, Mr. Niroshana Perera, Attorney at Law and Mr. Asela Rekawa Attorney at Law, unanimously recommended an immediate lifting of his cricketing ban, allowing him to resume regular cricket activities and return to national duty,” the medial release read.
It remains to be seen if Danushka Gunathilaka can indeed make a comeback to Sri Lanka cricket team. It looks unlikely that he will be part of the ongoing World Cup now even if there is an injury in the squad. Moreover, players like Pathum Nissanka have done well at the top of the order for the side. Gunathilaka is an opener pre-dominantly and has played 8 Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20 Internationals. He will be keen on making a comeback to the national side now with the case in Australia done and dusted now.
