CHENNAI: The no-ball delivered by Suraj Randiv to deny Virender Sehwag a ton on Monday claimed the bowler’s own wicket on Wednesday. Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) has penalised Randiv by imposing a one-match ban and fining him 100% of his match fee. While the off-spinner will miss Thursday’s match against New Zealand in Dambulla, Sehwag’s Delhi Daredevils teammate Tillakaratne Dilshan — who instigated Randiv to overstep the bowling crease by shouting out in Sinhalese “oney nam, no-ball ekak danna puluwan” (if you want, you can bowl a no-ball) — has been fined 100% of his match fee.
The decision to penalise the players was taken by a six-man panel set up by SLC, which had also directed team manager Anura Tennekoon to submit a report and sought from the broadcaster uncensored video footage and stump microphone audio bytes of the last over of the match.
“It is of paramount importance to maintain the discipline of the gentleman’s game, especially with Sri Lanka being winners of the ‘ICC Spirit of the Game’ award for two consecutive years,” said SLC, which has told captain Kumar Sangakkara to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future.
If SLC has shown urgency in taking action it is because it could not have allowed the issue to escalate further. On Wednesday, Sehwag, not content with apologies from Randiv and SLC, taunted the Sri Lankan team by tweeting: “Worry and fear just make you frazzled and unsettled.”
Meanwhile, the BCCI, after its earlier decision “not to take up the matter with SLC,” declared that it was “a very serious issue” and demanded “strict action” from SLC. Similarly for the ICC which, after suggesting that interpretation of the laws of the game — framed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) — were beyond its purview, indicated that it was waiting for SLC to act.