On Friday, August 16, it was revealed that Niroshan Dickwella had been banned from all cricket competitions due to an alleged anti-doping violation that occurred during the just-completed Lanka Premier League 2030. He could be suspended indefinitely while the probe is ongoing, according to sources close to Sri Lanka Cricket. It is anticipated that an official statement about the severity of his sentence will be released shortly.
In the LPL 2024, Niroshan Dickwella captained the Galle Marvels. At the conclusion of the round-robin stage, the team achieved the top spot on the points table under his direction.
Out of the eight games they played during the season, they won five and lost just three. They defeated Jaffna Kings in Qualifier 1, but they lost to them handily in the summit match by nine wickets.
Dickwella flattered to deceive during the season, managing just 184 runs from 10 innings at an appalling average of 18.40. Nonetheless, his striking percentage was a remarkable 153.33. The Kandy native only managed one half-century all season.
For the Lankan Lions, the 31-year-old has so far participated in 54 Tests, 55 ODIs, and 28 T20Is. In the three formats, he has amassed 2,757, 1,604, and 480 runs, in that order. In a Test match against New Zealand in March 2023 at the Hagley Oval, Dickwella made his final appearance for his country. In the meantime, he made his final appearances in T20Is and ODIs in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
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Dickwella’s LPL 2024 batting performance was so poor that he was left out of the Sri Lankan white-ball squads for the just finished home series against India. The fact that Sri Lanka has had many choices for wicketkeepers in their lineup recently hasn’t helped Dickwella’s cause. Now, as he attempts to turn around his faltering international career, this suspension represents a significant blow for the southpaw.