Sri Lanka cricket team captain Dinesh Chandimal, who was charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for ball tampering and altering the condition of the ball in the test match against West Indies played in St. Lucia, pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, an alleged video of Dinesh Chandimal trying to alter the condition of the ball has gone viral on social media. The footage shows the Sri Lankan captain trying to shine the ball but briefly putting his hand in the pocket which raises suspicion. Here is the video footage:
Earlier in the match, the Sri Lanka team had refused to take field after the on-field umpires had decided to change the ball and given West Indies team a chance to pick the new ball. The play had got delayed almost by a couple of hours due to Sri Lanka's refusal to take field on time. Dinesh Chandimal has been charged for breaching Level 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Match officials charged Chandimal after television footage from the final session's play on Friday appeared to show the captain taking sweets out from his left pocket and putting these in his mouth, before applying the artificial substance to the ball which the umpires viewed as an attempt to change its condition.
Dinesh Chandimal has denied ball-tampering by using sweets and will face a hearing at the conclusion of the ongoing second Test against the West Indies, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in its statement.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2018 08:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).