Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has strongly denied reports of the men's team holding a drinking party before the T20 World Cup 2024 match against South Africa in New York. SLC has released a statement calling it 'false, fabricated, and baseless' and demanded a rectification from weekend newspaper, which published an article on July 7th.
The 2014 World T20 champions began their campaign against South Africa in New York and suffered a crushing defeat. Batting first, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 in 19.1 overs after Anrich Nortje fiery show with the ball. While the Proteas faced some difficulty in chasing the target, they did so with 22 balls and 6 wickets to spare.
Meanwhile, SLC's statement said:
"Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) wishes to issue the following clarification regarding an inaccurate article titled “Drinking Party Inside Team Hotel Before South Africa Match?” published in a weekend newspaper on July 7th and subsequently circulated on social media. SLC categorically and strongly refutes the contents of the article and confirms that no such incidents, as described, have occurred. Therefore, SLC states unequivocally that the news report is entirely false, fabricated, and baseless.
The statement continued by claiming that such 'baseless' reports damages their reputation, adding:
"We vehemently believe that such false reporting unfairly damages the reputation of Sri Lanka Cricket, its officials, and the players. In light of the said false allegations, Sri Lanka Cricket has requested that the respective newspaper publish a ‘Right of Reply’ to address and rectify the damage caused to Sri Lanka Cricket."
Sri Lanka to face India in 3 ODIs and as many T20Is:
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are gearing up for a series of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is, beginning on July 27th.
With Sri Lanka facing a group-stage exit, head coach Chris Silverwood assigned. Hence, the board has appointed ex-opener Sanath Jayasuriya on an interim basis and will remain with the team till September 2024.
