The Sri Lankan government has warned the Lankan cricket team to achieve the prescribed fitness level within three months. A failure in achieving it will result in the axing of players from the side. The guidelines have been issued by Dayasiri Jayasekara, the Sports Miniter in Sri Lankan Government.

He had earlier commented on the Sri Lankan team, after the side’s failure to reach the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, which resulted in a controversy when Lasith Malinga criticised Minister’s comments. Malinga was later fined for his actions and had to apologise as well.

Now the Lankan government is having a check at their men’s squad, following failures of Sri Lanka in past few months. Sri Lankan recently faced defeats against Bangladesh in all the formats of the game. They even lost a Test match as well, which was the biggest surprise. After that loss, a newspaper even declared that loss as the death of Sri Lankan cricket.

Sri Lanka’s abysmal show continued in the Champions Trophy as well where they failed to qualify for the next round. Their only win came against India. Following the exit, the Lankan government has decided to ensure the players are fit, so as it can assure results for them on the field.

“No one has a satisfactory level of fitness, but I have made an exception this time,” said Sri Lanks’s Sports Minister.

Even in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe, none of the players met the fitness level prescribed by the government.

Recently, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board had decided to take the help of podiatrist so as to prevent injury to their players. One of the major reasons for injuries to their players was the shoes they wear, he explained. With Lankan government and the board keeping a check on the performance of the team, it can be a useful step which can help to improve the performance of the Sri Lankan players.

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