Sri Lanka vs South Africa: Chandimal and officials out of the Test matches

Sri Lanka and West Indies locked horns in a three-match Test series last month. The second Test at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad turned out to be a controversial one as the visitor’s captain Dinesh Chandimal was charged with the allegation of applying undesired substances on the leather on the second Day of the match, an incident which agitated the team.

In the third day, Chandimal and Co refused to take the field and play was halted for around 90 minutes. However, play resumed and the home team was awarded five penalty runs. Meanwhile, the Lankan captain denied the accusations. He was fined 100 percent of his match fees and was banned by ICC Chief Dave Richardson for the third Test at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

No Chandimal in Test series

However, most recently, they have accepted the wrongdoing. They conducted the act to make the ball spin more. Their actions were caught on the cameras. Match referee Javagal Srinath earlier mentioned that they applied an artificial substance to the ball. Sri Lanka is currently playing a two-match Test series against South Africa at home.

The first Test is currently being played at the Galle International Stadium and Chandimal has decided to sit out of both the matches. Coach Chandika Hathurasingha and manager Asanka Gurusingha accepted that they violated the spirit of the game and won’t be a part of the Lankan setup.

“In the interim, Chandimal, Hathurusingha and Gurusinha, who have pleaded guilty, have agreed not to participate in both Tests v SA. This will be credited against sanction imposed by commissioner,” the International Cricket Ground (ICC) was quoted as saying on Twitter.

Suranga Lakmal was the vice-captain of the team when Chandimal was there in the side. However, following the skipper’s suspension, Lakmal has taken over the role of leadership and is captaining the side in the ongoing opening Test in Galle.

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