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Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis has publicly apologised for his refusal to congratulate Virat Kohli after latter's record-equalling 49th ODI century against South Africa few days back. During a press conference, a journalist asked Mendis whether he wanted to wish Kohli on his historic 49th ODI ton but replying to the query the Sri Lankan captain refused to congratulat the star Indian batter by saying, "Why would I congratulate him?" which was accompanied by a smile. This response drew widespread criticism, prompting Mendis to clarify his stance.
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As quoted by Asian Mirror, Mendis opened up on the matter and said, "On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, when suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn't know what to say, And also I didn't understand the question clearly, scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what i said was absolutely wrong."
"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did," Mendis apologised.
Meanwhile, a series of tumultuous events has rocked Sri Lankan cricket following the team's lacklustre performance in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. After managing to notch just two wins out of nine matches, Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the World Cup semifinals.
In a double whammy, the International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership, citing government interference in the affairs of the national cricket board. This suspension came as a culmination of a turbulent week that saw Sri Lankan cricket plunge into further chaos.
On Thursday, the Sri Lankan parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling for the immediate dissolution of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the country's governing body for cricket. This resolution, backed by both the ruling and opposition parties, was a direct response to SLC's perceived failures and the team's abysmal performance at the World Cup.
On the other hand, India are on an unbeaten run as they have won all of the eight matches they have played so far in the ongoing World Cup. Rohit Sharma's brigade will look to continue their unbeaten run against Netherland witch whom they are playing their last group stage match on November 12. India have a bigger goal ahead as they will lock horns with New Zealand in the World Cup semifinals on November 15.
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Shreyas Iyer hammers cracking ton to become only Indian to achieve this big milestone, joins Sachin, Rohit in elite list
