Sri Lankan cricketer Kusal Mendis has been arrested after the vehicle he was driving hit and killed a 64-year-old cyclist at around 5am on Sunday.
The 25-year-old batsman was driving an SUV at Panadura before dawn when the incident happened, police said.
Reports: Sri Lankan cricketer Kusal Mendis has been arrested after a vehicle he was driving hit a 64-year-old man, killing him in the early hours, in the Colombo suburb of Panadura
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) July 5, 2020
The police media unit confirmed the accident had occurred in Panadura, just south of Colombo, and that the victim had been a local resident who sustained serious injuries and died as he was being admitted to hospital. Mendis will appear before the Panadura magistrate – likely in the next 48 hours – while police conduct an investigation.
The initial police statement made no mention of whether either Mendis or the victim were under the influence of alcohol.
Mendis has been named in the 16-player squad for a two-match home Test series against England in March, but the tour was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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As Sri Lanka’s lockdowns and curfew have now ceased, Mendis was allowed to be on the road at the time. He had been part of Sri Lanka’s residential training camp at Pallekele, which ended on Wednesday.
More than 3,000 people are killed annually in traffic accidents in Sri Lanka.
A former spin bowler, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, was given a four-year suspended jail sentence for crashing into a woman pedestrian and killing her in 2003.
Who is Kusal Mendis?
Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis, known as Kusal Mendis, a professional Sri Lankan cricketer was born on 2 February 1995. He plays for all forms of the game. He only played sixteen first-class matches before playing for the national side. He usually bats at number three in all formats. In November 2017, he was named the One Day International (ODI) batsman of the year for the 2016–17 season at Sri Lanka Cricket’s annual awards.
He captained Sri Lanka’s squad for the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Online Int’l News with additional input by GVS News Desk