Anyone guilty in no-ball controversy will be punished: Sangakkara

Dambulla (Sri Lanka) (PTI) - Off-spinner Suraj Randiv bowled a no ball to deny Virender Sehwag a hundred. Sehwag was left stranded on 99 though he hit the no-ball for a six. A committee of Sri Lanka Cricket is meeting to discuss action against players found guilty in the ploy.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara today took full responsibility for the ‘no-ball’ incident during his team’s tri-series match against India and said any player found guilty will be punished.

“I have taken full responsibility for what had happened and the matter is with the (Sri Lanka Cricket) Board. Any player guilty in the incident will have to be punished,” Sangakkara said at a press conference.

With the scores levelled in Monday’s tri-series match between India and Sri Lanka, off-spinner Suraj Randiv bowled a no ball to deny Virender Sehwag a hundred and the ploy was condemned by everyone as it was not within the spirit of the game. Sehwag was left stranded on 99 though he hit the no-ball for a six.

According to local media, it was home side batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan who suggested Randiv to bowl the no-ball to Sehwag.

Sangakkara did not say anything about who coaxed Randiv to bowl the no-ball but suggested his players should uphold the spirit of the game.

“That (playing in the spirit of the game) is a grey area and it is not in black and white. It is for all the teams in the world. All the teams have experienced something or the other. Presenting yourself well on and off the field and making efforts to play fair are I think part of our job,” he said.

“As professionals, however, we try to forget what had happened at the beginning or the end of a match and try to go ahead. So, we have to get the better of the situation and try to win every match we play. That is what we are going to do now,” he added.

Meanwhile, a six-member committee of Sri Lanka Cricket will meet this afternoon to take action on the recommendations of team manager who probed the ‘no-ball’ incident.

“A six-member interim committee has been set up by the SLC to consider the recommendations in the report submitted by team manager last night,” a top source said today.

The source said the meeting will focus on the video footages of the last three balls of India’s run chase in the tri-series match which the visiting side won by six wickets.

Sri Lanka Cricket interim chairman DS de Silva will head the committee while his secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and treasurer Sujeewa Rajapakse and three other SLC officials are the other members.