Sri Lanka’s national team has caused an outrage in the cricket fraternity with their poor performance. Former Sri Lanka spinner Muttaiah Muralitharan, who himself is a member of the advisory committee of past cricketers lead by Aravinda De Silva, has expressed his disappointment on Sri Lanka’s performance in recently concluded T20 series against England, where the team was whitewashed 3-0.
“I Watched last match, I’m disappointed to see the team play the way they played. It looks like they never played cricket before. For me it’s very sad as a former player. Its not the first time,It Has been happening for a long time, Nations pride has been tarnished” posted a fumed Murali.
The first T20 International of the three-match series at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff saw Sri Lanka collapsing at the score of 129 for seven in their 20 overs. The second T20 International also witnessed the same fate as the first match as there was another collapse of Sri Lanka’s batting line-up. The visitors gave England a mere target of 111 runs and the hosts easily won the game by five wickets through the DLS method. Entering the third T20 International, there wasn’t anything left as the hosts already clinched the series by 2-0. However, the fans were expecting a fightback from the Sri Lanka side.
The cricket fraternity was only met with disappointment as Sri Lanka produced another disastrous performance in the last T20 International to lose the series by 0-3. Batting first in the last T20I, England posted a massive score of 180 runs. Dawid Malan was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts as he played a stunning knock of 76 runs off 48 balls.
Chasing 181, Sri Lanka collapsed like a pack of cards. The visitors were bowled out for 91 and thus lost the game by a massive 89 runs. This was Sri Lanka’s fifth consecutive series loss in the shortest format of the game. The numbers are horrifying considering the 2021 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is just a couple of months away.
Former Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya also showed his resentment with the team’s torrid run in the international circuit. The veteran took to his official Twitter handle to reckon that the authorities need to take some strict measures to save the game of cricket in the country.
“Very sad day for Sri Lankan cricket. The situation is critical. We need immediate measures to save cricket” he wrote.
Their performance was so pathetic, that disgruntled Sri Lanka cricket fans even launched a campaign to shun their team on social media after they slumped to a dismal Twenty20 series drubbing in England. England recorded a thumping 89-run win at Southampton on Saturday to sweep the contests 3-0 — a fifth consecutive series defeat for Sri Lanka in the shortest format. As the hashtag #unfollowcricketers began to trend on Facebook on Sunday, thousands of fans boycotted the Facebook pages of vice-captain Kusal Mendis and opener Dhanushka Gunathilaka.
The aim of the campaign is to unfollow failed Sri Lankan cricketers from their verified profiles on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Fans were also sharing memes asking each other not to watch the national team on television.
“Unfollow all these failed cricketers,” said Ahmed Inaamulhaq on Twitter. “Don’t let them have the social media attention if they can’t perform for the national team. They do not deserve massive fan bases.”
