Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka arrested in Sydney after rape charge

A woman met with Danushka Gunathilaka after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application, police say

Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged by police after an alleged sexual assault in Sydney's eastern suburbs, sports news website ESPN Cricinfo reports.

Gunathilaka, 31, was arrested about 1 am on Sunday after a woman, 29, made a complaint to police last week. He was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with four counts of sexual assaults.

Police allege the cricketer sexually assaulted the woman he met in Rose Bay on Wednesday, after they had been chatting on an online dating application for several days, ABC News reports.

On Saturday, detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad and Eastern Suburbs police formed Strike Force Veteran to investigate the allegations.

"The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it's alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday 2 November 2022," the New South Wales police said in a statement.

"As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay.

Gunathilaka was ruled out of the T20 World Cup during the first round with a hamstring injury. He was replaced in the squad but remained with the team in Australia.

He has played eight Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is for Sri Lanka since making his international debut in November 2015.

Sri Lanka's tournament ended on Sunday following a defeat in their final group match against England at the SCG.