ICC charges Dinesh Chandimal of ball tampering, he pleads innocent

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged Dinesh Chandimal of tampering with the ball at the end of Day 2 in the 2nd Test between Sri Lanka and Windies. The Sri Lankan Captain, however, has denied the claims.

Earlier, Umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould were not pleased with the condition of the ball on Day 2 and changed the ball at the start of Day 3 and awarded the Windies 5 penalty runs.

Another ball tampering incident was noticed in the 2nd test match between Sri Lanka and Windies when the umpires charged Sri Lankan players of ball tampering. At the beginning of the third day, the umpires changed the ball and awarded 5 penalty runs to Windies.

The ICC confirmed the reports via tweet:  “The ICC can confirm the match officials in the second Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka changed the ball and awarded 5 penalty runs to West Indies. If there are any, Code of Conduct charges will follow as per usual at close of play.”

However, the Sri Lankan Board was  of a different opinion as it shot off a press release stating, “SLC advised the team to take the field to ensure the continuity of the match and wish to commend the decision taken by the team to continue with the game ‘under protest’ to ensure the upholding of the spirit of the game.

“The team management has informed us that Sri Lankan players have not engaged in any wrongdoing. SLC shall take all necessary steps to defend any player, in the event any unwarranted allegation is brought against a member of the team.”

In protest, the Sri Lankan team did not come out on the field. This delayed the match by 2 hours after which the team finally budged.
In the process, match referee Javagal Srinath tried his best to play an interlocutor between the umpires and the Sri Lankan players. However, his efforts bore fruits after a long time as Sri Lankan players finally took the field after considerable delay on Day 3.

As per ICC, “Dinesh Chandimal has been charged for breaching Level 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for changing the condition of the ball”.