Intra-team factionalism is one of the major causes for the national team’s recent downfall, it is learnt[/caption]
Unprecedented level of player factions has caused Sri Lanka cricket suffer immensely in the recent past, the Morning Sports learnt.
Dimuth Karunaratne was appointed as national Test skipper for the main reason of making peace among fighting factions in the national side, it was reported in February 2019.
But after the appointment of a veteran player on a high position again, the internal factionalism has begun to hurt the unity of the team since the recent South Africa series. This senior player is said to be involved in social media campaigns to promote himself and run down the image of the others in his own team.
Another senior player, who was involved in many ugly social media spats against his team-mates before, is reportedly feared by the youngsters in the side. Using his political clout, he is said to be influencing the ongoing process of appointing the National Cricket Selectors as well.
Meanwhile the recent leak of breach of the national team’s disciplinary code by a young player too has been a result of the intra-team factionalism, sources revealed.
“It is difficult to imagine how these players are playing as a team in the middle with this kind of antagonism among themselves,” a source who is in the know of the situation said.
“The unity was building up during the last two years but it has now come to a staggering situation again. That’s mainly because of the coming of some seniors back into the side. If this factionalism is not to be countered, no remedy will work to put the game on the right track,” the above source further added.