Dhananjaya de Silva won’t feature in the upcoming tour of the West Indies

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka batsman Dhananjaya de Silva has withdrawn from the upcoming tour of the West Indies after his father was murdered by unidentified gunmen on Thursday night.

Ranjan de Silva was shot dead in Rathmalana, which is located just south of Colombo, at approximately 8.30pm.

Many of Dhananjaya’s teammates visited Kalubowila Hospital, which was where his father had been taken, on Thursday night.

Ranjan had been elected as a councillor in the Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia City Council in February.

“Sri Lanka Cricket expresses its sincere condolences on the tragic demise of Mr. Ranjan De Silva, father of the national cricketer Dhananjaya De Silva,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement on its website. “We are extremely shocked, perturbed and saddened by the great loss suffered by Dhananjaya and his family.”

SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala added: “Sri Lanka Cricket will take every measure to support Dhananjaya at this time of sorrow and grief for him and his family, whilst giving him time to overcome the great pain and suffering caused by this tragedy.”

Sri Lanka are scheduled to travel to the West Indies on Friday and while no changes have been made to their departure date thus far, there is a possibility that their travel plans could change.