Reports: Player-manager 'Mafia' interfering with selection in Sri Lanka team

Sri Lanka cricket team is steadily improving in the ongoing limited-overs series against India. After losing the first ODI, they’ve put up a good show winning two matches across ODIs and T20Is. Moreover, the T20I series has gone into the decider now with the third game set to be played on July 29 (Thursday). While things are looking good on the outside, something is not correct within the dressing room it seems.

It has been reported that one of the player-managers has been interfering in the selection of the national team in the ongoing series. The manager was also in the news previously for taking 10% commission from many of his clients during the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL).

According to a report in the Morning Sports, one all-rounder was forced to leave out from the playing XI in the second T20I against India which was played on Wednesday (July 28). A source has confirmed the development that the player manager influenced the selection of another player.

“This has become an utter nuisance. We were compelled to leave out a promising all-rounder from the second T20I against India solely due to such influence coming from his manager. We actually wanted to play him but we decided against it for his manager’s influence,” a highly-laced source said. These manager influence the selection, reportedly, for their own selfish benefits.

A chance to win the series for Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, amidst this controversy, Sri Lanka will be hoping to finally win a series after a long time. With a brilliant performance in the second T20I, they have given themselves a shot at glory and this series win will go a long way in inspiring them to do well consistently. Moreover, with the T20 World Cup coming up later this year, the confidence of the players will also go sky high.

However, the victory won’t come easy for Sri Lanka as India, though depleted, stretched them to the last over in the second game while defending a meagre 132. Krunal Pandya contracting COVID and his seven close contacts has made India severely depleted but even then, they fought well and would love to end the series on a high.