The Sri Lankan cricket board on Monday suspended national team player Danushka Gunathilaka from all forms of cricket with immediate effect after he was arrested in Australia on charges of sexual assault during the country's campaign in the T20 World Cup there.
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SLC said it adopts a 'zero tolerance' policy for such conduct by a player and will provide all the required support to the Australian law enforcement authorities to carry out an impartial inquiry into the incident.
The Sri Lankan team had left Australia without Gunathilaka after being eliminated from the T20 World Cup on Saturday.
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Gunathilaka was denied bail after the hearing at a local court in Sydney on Monday. He attended the hearing via a video link in Downing Centre Local Court from Surry Hills cells.
Danushka Gunathilaka is not new to controversies, he had a few of them in thepast too.
Suspension in 2017
On 5 October 2017, Gunathilaka was suspended for six limited over international matches and also omitted from the Sri Lanka ODI squad for Pakistan in the UAE. This suspension was given by Sri Lanka Cricket due to missing training sessions, turning up to a match without his gear, and showing an indifferent attitude during training. However, the suspension was reduced to three matches on 17 October 2017 after a meeting of Sri Lanka Cricket's executive committee in Colombo.
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Suspension for breaking 'Team Curfew'
On 22 July 2018, Gunathilaka was again suspended from international cricket by Sri Lanka Cricket for breaching the "Player Code of Conduct" by breaking the team curfew. His suspension came immediately after the end of the second test against South Africa.
Asked to attend counselling sessions in 2021
On 28 April 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) censured Gunathilaka for his indecent behaviour regarding reports claiming that he had a brawl with few others during an event at a hotel in Matara, with a three-member inquiry panel finding his conduct unprofessional and lacking integrity. He was directed to attend mandatory counselling sessions for a year instead of handing another ban from cricket.
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Breaching 'Bio Bubble' in 2021
On 28 June 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suspended Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella after they breached the team's bio-secure bubble during Sri Lanka's tour of England.[69] All three players were seen in the city centre of Durham, with SLC sending them all back home ahead of the ODI matches.
