"People Of Sri Lanka Deserve Better": Mahela Jayawardene, Bhanuka Rajapaksa Amid Deepening Crisis

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and current batting star Bhanuka Rajapaksa have expressed their anguish over the ongoing turmoil in the country. Both Jaywardene and Rajapaksa, currently involved in the ongoing IPL 2022, took to Twitter to show solidarity with their countrymen. Sri Lanka is in the grip of an unprecedented shortage of food, fuel and other essentials -- along with record inflation and crippling power cuts with no sign of an end to the economic woes. Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's cabinet resigned en masse from their positions at a late-night meeting Sunday, the education minister said, as anti-government protests escalated despite curfews.

"I'm sad to see emergency law and curfew in Sri Lanka. The government cannot ignore the needs of the people who have every right to protest. Detaining people who do is not acceptable and I am very proud of the brave Sri Lankan lawyers who rushed to their defence," Jayawardene, who is the head coach of IPL team Mumbai Indians, posted on Twitter.

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Even though I am many miles away, I can still feel the anguish of my fellow Sri Lankans, as they struggle to make it through each day. Now, they have found even their most fundamental rights suppressed, in an effort to quell their voices. But when 22 million voices rise as one, it cannot be ignored. The people of Sri Lanka deserve to be heard. The people of Sri Lanka deserve to live without the fear that they may not be able to provide for their families. The people of Sri Lanka deserve better," wrote Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who is currently representing Punjab Kings in IPL 2022.

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All 26 ministers in the cabinet aside from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime