Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne on Muttiah Muralitharan’s comments regarding the contract dispute have written letters to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Sri Lankan cricket is in a bit of turmoil.
If the drubbing at the hands of England was not enough, three senior players breached the bio-bubble and were being suspended for the time being, after which former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga’s controversial comment about India fielding a 2nd string side came in the news headlines.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne’s ongoing brawl which involves the Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) board too has come to light, with blame game too starting to do the rounds. Legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan named Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne as the cricketers responsible for the contract turmoil in the island country.
Angelo Matthews And Dimuth Karunaratne Expressed Their Displeasure Towards Muttiah Muralitharan
Now, the duo has written a personal letter to Muttiah Muralitharan and expressed their displeasure towards him by stating, that the issue was not entirely related to money. The contract tussle between the players and board is a long-standing issue and, it started when the Island nation was about to embark on the white-ball tour to England. The players just signed the temporary contract, which made the SLC board even angrier.
Upon returning from England, most of the players signed the contract and, only Angelo Matthews didn’t sign, which led to speculations he might retire from international cricket. But now it turns out even Dimuth Karunatne too is involved in the contract controversy.
Angelo Matthews And Dimuth Karunaratne Responsible For The Contract Brawl As Named By Muttiah Muralitharan
While speaking in an interview, the former off-spinner held Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne as the prime suspects for the entire contract tussle. Muttiah Muralitharan even felt the Sri Lankan team’s poor performance of late is due to the duo disturbing the team environment.
“It is unfair and untrue that you state that the issue in the contracts was purely money,” the letter read. “We feel that you were not properly informed of the correct sequence of events, or was possibly given wrong information. Possibly by parties who wish to create a rift between the players and the administration and create disharmony,” it added as reported by Sports Tiger.
In an elaborative letter, the duo also alleged that Muttiah Muralitharan shared the dressing room with the team and addressed the players in a derogatory manner and his comments at this point in time are ‘unprofessional.’
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is without many key players in the squad to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is against India. The hosts will miss players like Kusal Mendis, Danushka Gunathilaka, and wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella. The above-mentioned players were suspended after a bio-bubble breach in England.
Due to some contract-related matter, Sri Lanka has sidelined Angelo Matthews and Dimuth Karunaratne. Adding to all these problems, regular skipper Kusal Perera sustained an injury and will miss the entire series against India.
The 34-year-old Angelo Mathews was not a part of the squad that toured England recently and last played the Test series against Bangladesh in April-May. Angelo Mathews has played 90 Tests, 218 ODIs, and 78 T20Is amassing above 10,000 international runs in 3 formats combined.
His average of 44.86 in Tests and 41.67 in ODIs is also enviable. He has also picked about 180 wickets with his right-arm medium pace.
Sri Lanka lost 3-0 and 2-0 in the T20I and ODI series respectively in England and they have also lost the first ODI against India by 7 wickets.