ICC World Cup 2019: Sri Lanka likely to be sanctioned by the ICC

On Saturday, Sri Lanka played against Australia at the Kennington Oval in London and lost the match by 87 runs. Placed fifth in the points table, Dimuth Karunaratne and Co are scheduled to next lock horns against hosts and favourites England on Friday, June 21 at the Headingley in Leeds. After their hefty defeat last night, the Lankans are in for more trouble now.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to sanction the Sri Lankan team after they failed to fulfill their media duties following yesterday’s loss. Karunaratne and the other Lankan players were due to meet the press after the match in a media conference and ‘mixed zone’.

However, they refused to attend the media interaction and are liable to face action. An ICC spokesperson confirmed the development. “Yes. Sri Lanka have told us they don’t want to do it. The ICC will be speaking to them,” the official was quoted as saying in Scroll.

Lanka’s refusal to attend the media interaction came after Ashantha de Mel, their team manager, slammed the ICC, the apex cricket board, for mistreating their squad. “This is a World Cup where the top ten countries are taking part and I feel that all the participants should be treated equally,” he said.

The manager mentioned that the net facilities in Cardiff were ‘unsatisfactory’ and their hotel in Bristol didn’t have a swimming pool. Furthermore, he criticized the team bus, saying that it was more cramped up than the double-decker vehicles provided to the other teams.

An indifferent World Cup campaign  

As far as Lanka’s journey in the mega event is concerned, they started with a shambolic ten-wicket defeat against New Zealand at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Thereafter, Afghanistan gave them a run for their money at the same venue. Rain halted proceedings in that encounter and eventually, Sri Lanka won the match by 34 runs courtesy of the DLS Method.

Lanka’s next two matches versus Pakistan and Bangladesh got washed away without even the toss. Following the defeat on Saturday, Sri Lanka is left with only four games in the league stage and the team needs to get back to winning ways in order to progress to the semis.