Sri Lankan middle-order batsman, Kusal Mendis, who was recently involved in a car accident with an elderly cyclist, has been released on bail, only a day after the arrest on Sunday.
Mendis’s SUV car fatally hit the 64-year old cyclist outside the suburb of Sri Lankan capital Colombo in Panadura on wee-hours of June 5.
Additionally, Mendis has been cleared of ‘driving under the influence’ by preliminary police investigations and a judicial medical officer.
Reportedly, both Mendis and teammate Avishka Fernando were coming back from a wedding of a Sri Lanka Cricket employee when the incident took place at 5 AM on Sunday.
Interestingly, CCTV footage reveals that the car diverged off the roads and ran into a garden wall, which hit a resident in the process. The victim, after sustaining substantial injuries, took his final breaths in Panadura Hospital.
Mendis was detained by the Panadura police station overnight and then released after being produced before the Magistrate’s Court.
Mendis was released on two personal bails amounting to Sri Lankan rupees (SLR) 1 million each, which is approximately $5400.
The 25-year old was part of Sri Lanka’s residential training camp in Pallekele which ended last week on Wednesday.
With the nationwide lockdown lifted in Sri Lanka, citizens can now roam around the roads. The island nation has had very low cases of COVID-19 until now, in comparison to its neighbouring countries.
Moreover, Sri Lanka carries a shocking tally of 3,000 deaths per year in road accidents.
Talking more about Mendis, the Moratuwa-born Sri Lankan cricketer has represented his country in 44 Tests, 76 ODIs and 44 T20Is.
He was part of the Lankan squad which was scheduled to face-off England, ahead of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Unfortunately, all tournaments and bilateral ties have been postponed or cancelled since mid-March, due to the onset of global COVID-19 outbreak.
