Sri Lanka’s premier middle-order batsman, Kusal Mendis was arrested on Sunday after being allegedly involved in the killing of a cyclist, outside Colombo, the capital of the ‘Island Nation’.
The 74-year old pedestrian died instantly, early in the dawn, as reported by the police. 25-year-old Mendis was driving an SUV at Pandura when the incident took place. Mendis will be produced in front of a magistrate later on Sunday.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan middle-order batsman was named in the 16-man squad for the two-match Test series scheduled against England in March. However, the series was cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus globally. Also, the talented right-handed batsman was part of the squad which resumed training post-COVID-crises.
It is believed that road accidents kill as many as three thousand people annually in Sri Lanka. Also, former Lankan leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarchchi was handed a four-year suspended jail sentence for fatally crashing into a pedestrian which killed her back in 2003.
Mendis has represented Sri Lanka in 44 Tests, 76 ODIs and 26 T20Is, where he has amassed 2995 runs, 2164 runs and 484 runs respectively. Also, Mendis has nine international tons to his name along with 28 half-centuries.
Things have only gone bad to worse for Sri Lankan Cricket of-late with allegations of match-fixing in the 2011 World Cup final by former Sports Minister and the arrest of Shehan Madushanka, who was found in possession of prohibited drugs.
