Amid unprecedented violence and growing protests against former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, icons of Sri Lankan cricket slammed the top leaders of the country. Cricketers such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and former captain Roshan Mahanama took to Twitter and criticised the Rajapaksas following the clashes between the supporters of the ruling party and anti-government protesters in Colombo. 

“The only violence was perpetrated by your ‘supporters’ - goons and thugs who came to your office first before going on to assault the peaceful protestors," tweeted Sangakkara, the former top-order batsman and wicket-keeper, while commenting on a tweet by Mahinda Rajapaksa. The former PM had said, "I urge our general public to exercise restraint and remember that violence only begets violence. The economic crisis we're in needs an economic solution which this administration is committed to resolving."