Picture Credit: Twitter/@OfficialSLC
The Sri Lankan team have been going through tough times in the last couple of months. After failing to win a single match in England, they also found themselves in the middle of a controversial incident when the trio of Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka were caught breaking bio-bubble protocols and were called back to Sri Lanka in the middle of the series. While the contractual disputes are already going on, the team returned to Sri Lanka under some panic as few England players (against whom they recently played) tested positive for COVID-19.
Sri Lankan team flight diverted to India
Amid all the tension, the squad suffered another nerve-wrenching moment on their way back to Sri Lanka from England. It was reported that the flight suffered fuel loss and the team had to land in India instead. “We had to divert to India because we lost fuel. When I landed in India, I switched my phone on and I had a couple of messages from Wayne Bentley [England’s operations manager] who updated on the situation and that was a really nerve-wracking time for all of us,” Mickey Arthur, Sri Lanka’s head coach, told talkSPORT.
Notably, they are awaiting results of COVID-19 tests since they were in contact with the England players during the recently-concluded white-ball series. If the tests return negative, all the members are expected to enter the bio-bubble on reaching Sri Lanka as Kusal Perera's side begin preparations for the upcoming white-ball series against India, starting on July 13. From the 30-member list of players nominated by the selectors for the series, as many as 29 players have signed the tour contract with only Angelo Mathews withdrawing his name due to personal reasons.