Rule breaking Sri Lanka cricketer Dhanushka Gunathilaka, who arrived in the island on Wednesday morning after an Australian court found him not guilty of raping a Sydney woman, told reporters that he will have to wait and see what kind of regulations will be imposed on him in his desire to regain a place in the team.
Gunathilaka went through a 11-month ordeal in Australia after the un-named woman in Sydney told police she was raped by him in an episode that reached unprecedented public interest levels as the Sri Lanka team prepared to head back home after a poor show at the T20 World Cup last October-November.
“I have to wait to see what kind of rules will be imposed on me and I don’t know what they’ll be like, so let’s wait and see,” he told reporters.
After learning that Gunathilaka was acquitted by a court in Sydney, Sri Lanka Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe told reporters that Gunathilaka was free to resume his cricket provided he fulfils certains conditions.
Gunathilaka arrived with a female companion and when asked about her, he wanted the Media to tell him what they thought.
“Is she your lover,” asked one reporter and Gunathilaka replied: “You can think it that way”.
Gunathilaka is a player with a history of indiscipline conduct and in 2021 was banned for a two-year period after he violated team rules and left his hotel room with two other players on a night out during Covid 19 restrictions.
Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body of the sport in the island, lifted the ban after seven months and came under heavy media criticism for its failure to enforce discipline while showing leniency to players who violate its own code of conduct.
On yet another occasion Gunathilaka caused a stir at a tourist hotel in the south of the country after he reportedly attempted to grab a girl during what was said to be a Social get-together against her wishes.
Sri Lanka Cricket acknowledged the incident and in a Media statement without naming Gunathilaka said they had directed one of their contracted players to seek psychiatric treatment.
Prior to that a foreing tourist in Colombo made a police complaint that Gunathilaka was a witness to her being raped by a person said to be his friend in a hotel room at a time he was with the Sri Lanka team during an international series.
He has also on more than one occasion missed team practices and was even banned for six ODI matches.
Many cricket followers in Sri Lanka doubt that Gunathilaka will be able to turn a new leaf and put back his past or be the same as a batsman should he be able to regain his place in the team.
Critics see him as a swashbuckling plab-boy cricketer unlike anybody else who represented Sri Lanka.
Gunathilaka, 32, represented Sri Lanka in eight Test matches but is mainly seen as a limited overs player who performed in 47 ODI matches and 46 T20 games with nothing much of a record other than making a top score of 133.
