The 26-year-old all-rounder Karunaratne was also fined US$5,000 after pleading guilty to the charges.
“Considering the seriousness of the violations committed by Mr. Karunaratne, the Inquiry Panel through its report has recommended to the Executive Committee of the SLC to issue a stern warning to the player to desist from further violations and such be punished which has no bearing on his cricket career,” an SLC media statement said.
As the ban is suspended, Karunaratne is allowed to play internationally, but is still set to be dropped from Sri Lanka’s ODI squad for their upcoming home series against Afghanistan. The squad, however, has not yet been made public, as it awaits confirmation from Sri Lanka’s sports minister, who has questioned the reason behind Karunaratne’s axing.
It is understood that Karunaratne’s poor recent record, mainly in the T20I format, is the main reason for his possible ouster. In 21 innings this year, he has scored 169 runs at a strike rate of 98.25 while with the ball he has taken 14 wickets in 22 innings at 39.14. He has fared better in ODIs, however, notably winning two Player of the Match awards during Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year.
