Sri Lanka has had a tough year and won only their second ODI this year when they beat India in the third ODI of the recent series, in which they lost 2-1. The Sri Lankan cricket fans have naturally been critical of the team and have called for a boycott of the team on social media.
Reacting to the fans, coach Mickey Arthur has ordered his players to get off social media. He said that the players were being ‘absolute hammering’ on the social media platforms which affected the judgements and moods of the players.
"Some of the stuff listed there is beyond comprehensible," Mickey Arthur said ahead of Sri Lanka's three-match T20 tournament against India starting Sunday.
The decision to order the squad off social media comes after the fans initiated a campaign to boycott their own players.
"My advice to the guys is just stay off it. You get absolutely hammered on it. There is only one way to handle it and that is not to look. So my best advice is just get over it because there are some idiots there who think they know exactly what's going on, when in fact they know nothing,” the Sri Lankan coach said.
Speaking about the alleged spat with captain Dasun Shanaka, Aurthur took to Twitter himself and said that things should not be blown out of proportion.
"It was actually a very good debate, no need to make mischief out of it!" Arthur tweeted.
Sri Lanka won an ODI for the first time since 2012 against India in Sri Lanka and avoided a clean sweep of the three-match ODI series. However, the team has lost four consecutive ODI series they have been a part of.
Making things worse, Sri Lanka has lost their last five consecutive T20I series, the last of which came against the top ranked team England.
Sri Lanka will take on India in the first T20I on Sunday, 25 July.
(Inputs: AFP)
