Thisara Perera raises questions about Lasith Malinga’s leadership after FB squabble with latter’s wife

01/30/2019

Thisara Perera has written a letter to SLC CEO Ashley de Silva, raising objection against Lasith Malinga’s leadership after a social media exchange between him and Malinga's wife. He described the team as 'a laughing stock to the whole country' for the same activity and asked the board to intervene.

Malinga's wife Tanya Perera, earlier this month, had alleged that Perera had gone to meet the country's new Sports Minister in an attempt to secure his place in the national side. That post didn’t go down well with the former Sri Lankan skipper who defended himself on Facebook, pointing to his excellent ODI record in 2018. However, the feud didn’t stop there and Perera alleged that Tanya had put up another post targeting him which forced him to write a letter to SLC CEO.

“When these kinds of accusations are made by the incumbent captain's wife on social media, it is hard to prevent the general public from believing and further slandering me in various ways. There has been a general sense of unease in the dressing room ever since [the Facebook post] and to be honest the environment was rather unpleasant for the youngsters especially when two senior players were not on the same page. We cannot play as a team with friction. The leadership's role is to create stability and unity within the team even before one could start with a game plan. In this instant I regret to say we had none of the above," Perera wrote in the letter, reported Cricinfo.

Sri Lankan cricket has been in a mess for at least three years now and the lack of steady leadership meant the team failed to challenge any opposition. The regular thrashing also made sure that they will do well to win at most a couple of games in the World Cup. In the time of uncertainty, Perera wanted SLC to intervene and find out a solution to the issue.

"We are at the verge of the World Cup. Our focus and attention should be on performing well at it instead of bickering over social media on pointless issues. This team is in dire need of steady leadership and guidance. Importantly, and environment of unity is needed… These issues need rectifying ahead of the World Cup. The leadership and seniors of the team must set the example for this.

"We have become the laughing stock of a whole country all because of one person's personal vendetta. This is not something to be taken lightly, especially at a time like this. I humbly request SLC to intervene and help us overcome our difference and move forward with a renewed confidence and sense of unity."