Mahela Jayawardene responds after fans question his patriotism for skipping Road Safety World Series

The Road Safety World Series is a T20 cricket competition organized by the Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra to raise awareness about road safety. The series involves several legendary retired players from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and South Africa.

The non-participation of certain players from the series was criticized. Among them, the former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene was involved in a heated Twitter battle as his patriotism was questioned. Jayawardene decided against participating in the series. The decision to take part in the series was left to each individual player. Sri Lankan team saw Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan with Tillakaratne Dilshan leading the squad.

However, Mahela was doubted by his fans for his commitment to his team and country. Ever since he hung the boots and retired from his international career, his actions have been under the scanner. Yet again he was aggravated by the comments made questioning his integrity and love for the country.

The cricketing legend from Sri Lanka has earned if not more, at least the reputation of being a cool-headed character on and off the field. The criticism that involved him did not see any sort of reaction from the batsman. This notion from one of his fans saw a very different reaction.

Fitting reply from Mahela Jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardena was clear in replying to the acquisitions made on him. He informed his fellow followers of the real reason and the purpose of the series. The decision to take himself off the series was justified as a personal act. Owing to his already existing commitments, he was unavailable to take part.

His intention was to make sure that the general cricket fans know the real reason behind his absence in the tournament. Although the SL Legends team had a great start in the tournament, the world of cricketing fans and the team will miss the Legend.

Taking to Twitter, Mahela tweeted, “This is an exhibition tournament to promote road safety in india.. not an international tournament and people are getting paid to play in this… I personally had other commitments to my family during this period. I hope this will clear whatever misguided information Being posted.”

This is a exhibition tournament to promote road safety in india.. not a international tournament and people are getting paid to play in this.. I personally had other commitments to my family during this period. I hope this will clear what ever misguided information Being posted. https://t.co/mF3rekZxDQ

— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) March 9, 2020