After suggesting that it is “unpardonable” for a female cricketer to bowl a front-foot no ball, Sri Lankan TV and radio analyst Roshan Abeysinghe was met with anger on social media for his comments. Roshan Abeysinghe is from Sri Lanka.
The event took place on Tuesday during the first Twenty20 International that was being played between Bangladesh and the hosts Sri Lanka. At the time, Sri Lanka was batting in the first innings.
In the 13th over when Bangladesh spinner Nahida Akter occurred to clip the bails at the non-striker’s end before delivery, which led in the umpire ruling a no ball. However, Abeysinghe was quick to jump to the conclusion that the bowler had overstepped in the commentary, and as a result, the Sri Lankan was “very, very surprised.”
“… and in addition to that, there is no ball. “This is an act that cannot be forgiven,” Abeysinghe stated.
He continued, “Unpardonable on two counts: one, a spinner; second thing, a lady… I don’t believe they have great strides, therefore in that sense, I am very, very amazed how she could have overstepped.”
The Sri Lankan was quick to reiterate his viewpoint as the actual reason behind the no-ball decision was revealed through replay.
“The bails have been dislodged, and that is the reason for it… Abeysinghe continued by saying, “I told you, there is no way that this can ever be a stride.”
The footage of his remark went on to spark angry responses on Twitter.
A journalist and broadcaster by the name of Mark Machado sent the following message on Twitter: “Uncle @RoshanCricket, I respect a lot of your work, but you have let all Sri Lankans down today with these comments.”The aforementioned video was accompanied by the phrase “This commentator should be removed from ever commentating on women’s cricket again,” which was written by Goergie Heath, an English sports writer and pundit, on Twitter. Heath was responding to the video in question.
After some time had passed, Abeysinghe posted what he called a “unconditional apology” in the comment thread that accompanied Heath’s tweet.
“Hi Georgie let me extend an unconditional apology if you or anyone else were offended. The statements were made in good faith from the perspective of a pure cricketing approach, and they were never intended to be offensive. Nevertheless, I am prepared to apologize and accept being corrected. Once again, please accept my deepest apologies,” said Abeysinghe, adding that he “will be attentive moving ahead.”