Bhanuka-Rajapaksa

Picture Credit: Twitter/@OfficialSLC

Sri Lankan batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa has been handed a one-year ban from all formats of the game by Sri Lanka Cricket. Rajapaksa is currently on probation for two years, having been handed one-year ban as a suspended sentence. According to an official release, SLC dealt out these punishments for breaching "the obligations of Player Contract 2019-2020 while appearing in social and other media interviews."

Notably, the Sri Lankan cricketer has also been fined USD 5000 by SLC for breaching the player contract.

Rajapaksa named in Sri Lanka's 13-man training squad ahead of the India series

Bhanuka Rajapaksa has been named in Sri Lanka's 13-man training squad for the limited-overs series against India. He is currently in the training camp after clearing the fitness test ahead of the India series which begins on 13th of July. Sri Lanka will host India for a three-match ODI and T20I series.

Rajapaksa most recently came out and said that he should have been a part of the Sri Lankan team which toured England. Even head coach Mickey Arthur said that the player has superb hitting abilities and that he was omitted because of substandard fielding and poor fitness and weight management.

"Bhanuka failed the skinfold test and went home without doing the rest of the tests. This just shows me the attitude and the shortcuts he is looking to take," Arthur said.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa has represented Sri Lanka in seven T20Is. He last played for the country against India in Indore in 2020.