No-ball was deliberate

Sangakkara tries to douse fire while Sri Lanka Cricket report names a senior player as instigator.

It was Suraj Randiv who may have delivered the infamous no-ball on Monday to deny Virender Sehwag a century,but it was a senior cricketer in the side who floated the idea. And the instigator,as widely speculated,arent the teams old hands Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene. These are the findings by manager Anura Tennekoon,the man Sri Lanka Cricket appointed to inquire the controversial end to Mondays game,it was reliably learnt on Tuesday.

SLC was tight-lipped about the issue. The interim committee will meet on Wednesday afternoon and take appropriate action, said SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga.

On his part,skipper Sangakkara was candid to say that Randivs no-ball was deliberate and he too didnt rule out the possibility of a senior players role in Randiv deciding to overstep. I had said on Monday night that if it was deliberate then I would address it strongly in the dressing room,and that is exactly what happened. The players concerned have been spoken to, he told The Indian Express.

The skipper feels the episode shows Sri Lanka in bad light. We are dealing with it as it should be dealt with: in an internal manner. It doesnt matter if it was a decision on the part of Suraj Randiv or taken in consultation with another player. What matters is that it reflects poorly on the team. This is not the way I would like to play my cricket.

When Sangakkara addressed the post-match press conference on Monday,he claimed he hadnt seen television replays of the no-ball and didnt realise the extent of overstepping. After the media briefing,Sangakkara saw the replays and was convinced that the no-ball was deliberate. After that a team meeting was called and the issue was discussed threadbare.

Those who attended the meeting say that the Sri Lankan skipper was livid when he came to know about the involvement of the senior player,who in the past had gone scot-free despite several allegations of indiscipline against him. SLC officials,it is learnt,turned a blind eye to his indiscretions since the senior was performing a very vital role in the team.

All apologies

Later,Sangakkara got on the line with India coach Gary Kirsten and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to apologise on behalf of the Sri Lankan team. On Tuesday morning,Sangakkara directed Randiv and the senior pro to do the same and express their regret to Sehwag. The Lankan board,on its part,released a statement saying they were perturbed and disconcerted by the developments.

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India team manager Ranjib Biswal said: This morning,Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga called me up and expressed his regret officially and asked me to convey it to the Indian team,particularly to Sehwag. They have also assured that they will look into the matter officially. On behalf of Team India,we have accepted Nishanthas regret and we hope that both the countries cricketing relations go forward.

Cuttack unrelated

The Sri Lankan skipper said Sehwag had read too much into Lasith Malingas leg-side wide during the Cuttack match last year,which left Sachin Tendulkar on an unbeaten 96 at the non-strikers end.

That wide in Cuttack was not deliberate. I have seen those tapes time-and-again and I can tell you there was no intention on part of the team or Malinga to deny Tendulkar a century, Sangakkara said.