Sri Lankan cricket player Danushka Gunathilaka has been suspended from all forms of cricket with immediate effect following his arrest on charges of alleged sexual assault during the ongoing T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Monday.
The executive committee of the Sri Lankan cricket board will also not consider Gunathilaka when selecting the national cricket team in the near future.
“Sri Lanka Cricket will take the necessary steps to promptly carry out an inquiry into the alleged offense, and, upon conclusion of the aforementioned court case in Australia, steps will be taken to penalize the said player if found guilty,” a media release by the SLC reads.
The board also emphasized that there is a “zero tolerance” policy for any such conduct by a player and vowed that all necessary support would be provided to Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The Sri Lankan batter was ruled out of the T20 world cup after playing the first match against Namibia, due to an injury.
This is not the first time the country’s cricket board has suspended Gunathilaka. In 2021, he was suspended for one year for breaching the team’s bio-secure bubble on a tour of England along with teammates Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella.
In 2018, Gunathilaka was banned for six months after he broke the team curfew. In the same year, the left-handed batter was suspended after an unnamed friend of his was accused of raping a Norwegian woman.
After being found guilty of missing training sessions and turning up for a game without his cricket gear, the board suspended the southpaw for six limited overs games.