What’s the story?
Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga has found himself in a spot of bother after the nation’s cricket board started an inquiry against the fast bowler for "repeated breach" of the terms of his contract.
The inquiry has been set up because of the comments made by Malinga against Sri Lanka's sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara for criticising the Lankan cricket team after their loss to Pakistan in a must-win encounter in the recently-concluded ICC Champions Trophy.
He went on to call Jayasekara a monkey in the interview. Speaking to a television channel, Malinga said, “I don’t care about criticism from those who are simply warming chairs. What does a monkey know about a parrot’s nesting hollow? This is like a monkey getting into a parrot’s nest and talking about it.”
Extra cover: Lasith Malinga courts controversy with 'Monkey' remark at Sri Lankan sports minister
It has been revealed that Malinga will face a three-member disciplinary committee headed by SLC CEO Ashley de Silva for his comments on Sri Lankan’s sports minister. The committee will forward the outcomes from the hearing to the executive committee for disciplinary action against the bowler.
In case you didn’t know...
After losing to South Africa in their first match of the tournament, Sri Lanka revived their hopes of making it to the semis by beating India by seven wickets in their second Group B game and set-up a must-win game against Pakistan.
After having Pakistan on the mats, the Sri Lankan fielders dropped a couple of catches off the bat of Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and that was enough for the eventual champions to beat the Lankans and progress to the semis.
Details
After their exit from the Champions Trophy, the country’s sports minister Jayasekera had criticised the entire team for their lack of fitness after the team failed to reach the semi-final.
Malinga responded to Jayasekara’s claims by calling him a monkey on-air and the minister ordered Sri Lanka cricket to start an investigation against the Mumbai Indians pacer. He also added that he did not point out Malinga when he was criticising the team, but the 2014 World T20 captain decided to take a dig at him publicly.
What’s next?
Sri Lanka will host Zimbabwe in a five-match ODI series starting on June 30 and will play the same opposition in a solitary Test after the end of the limited-overs leg. As mentioned earlier, it is highly likely that some sort of disciplinary action will be initiated against Malinga before the series commences.
Extra Cover: What does the future hold for Lasith Malinga?
Author’s Take
The Sri Lankan sports minister had every right to criticise the team for their shabby performance in the Champions Trophy. Lasith Malinga could have handled the situation better by keeping mum about the comments made by Jayasekara especially when the minister had not pointed out Malinga’s name in particular.
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