Fuming Sehwag slams SL for ton fiasco

Virender Sehwag accused Kumar Sangakkara and Co. of playing dirty to deny him a century.

3 min readDambullaAug 17, 2010 03:39 AM IST

Virender Sehwag made it clear that it was not the first time the Sri Lankans hadnt played the game in the right spirit and accused Kumar Sangakkara and Co. of playing dirty to deny him a century. Despite smashing a six when on 99,Sehwags runs werent counted after off-spinner Suraj Randiv bowled a no-ball when the scores level,which triggered off a string of accusations during the post-match press conference.

He Randiv should have showed sportsmans spirit if there is a player on 99,it does not mean that you bowl a no-ball,give away four byes,that has no place in good cricket, Sehwag said.

Sehwag claimed that he hadnt realised that the six wouldnt be counted but knew immediately that Randiv had played a cheap hand.

Why should I look at the video? Yes,it was done deliberately. Because of the size of the no-ball, Sehwag said,while gesturing the size of the overstepping with his hands. Till now in Test matches he hasnt bowled a single no-ball,he hasnt bowled no-balls in one-day cricket,on 99 only why did he bowl a no-ball? And not a small no-ball,not a small margin,but from one foot ahead.

Sehwag,though,feels that this incident may not alter the spirit with which the game is being played between the two sides. This is not a controversy,they have done it because no team wants anybody to score hundreds against them. We won the game,we got the bonus point. I dont think there will be a change in the spirit of the series. It has happened before when Tendulkar was left not out in the 90s in Cuttack. This is not the first time Sri Lanka has done this.

The Tendulkar incident,according to Sehwag,was the first such incident. At the Barabati Stadium last year,Lasith Malinga had bowled a wide when India needed two runs to win at Cuttack and Tendulkar,on 96,was at the non-strikers end. The wide down the leg side went for a boundary and five wides were awarded to India.

Meanwhile,Sangakkara denied the allegations. I hope its not deliberate. Thats not the way I would like to play my cricket. If that was intentional,then I am yet to find out about it. That has got no place on the field of cricket. I dont think he Randiv is that sort of player. If it is deliberate,of course,I will have to have a chat with him and make sure that things like that dont happen again. I will also have to see if there was any talk about it on the field prior to that delivery, Sangakkara said.

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Sangakkara also claimed that he would take strict measures if it was a deliberate move.

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