Sri Lanka's 'terrible trio' likely to be handed a minimum 1-year suspension

The three Sri Lankan cricketers - Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka - dubbed as the 'terrible trio' by the media who were sent back home for breaching the bio-secure bubble during the tour of England will not just miss the limited-overs series against India at home, but will also be handed a minimum of one-year suspension, according to an official.

Videos emerged of Mendis and Dickwella smoking on the streets of Durham and in another video, Gunathilaka is seen them joining them. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has said that the board will conduct an inquiry to find out how the three players got out of the isolation once they complete their two-week mandatory quarantine.  

"They are likely to get a minimum one-year suspension if found guilty of several breaches of their contract," one official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

Sri Lanka were whitewashed by England in the T20 International (T20I) series and have also taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series with a five-wicket victory in Chester-Le-Street on Tuesday (June 29)

The hashtag #unfollowcricketers began to trend on Facebook on Sunday as thousands of fans boycotted the social media pages of Mendis and Gunathilaka, reports said. Fans were also sharing memes asking each other not to watch the national team on television.

Sri Lanka will have a chance to level the ODI series, when they face England in the second ODI at The Oval on Thursday (July 1).

(With inputs from AFP)