Sri Lanka Cricket on Tuesday apologised to India after Virender Sehwag was denied a one-day century due to what the batsman said was a deliberate no-ball. Sehwag was stranded on 99 not out as India raced to a six-wicket win in a tri-series match on Monday, which ended amid controversy over whether Sri Lanka had played in the spirit of the game.
India needed five runs to win and Sehwag just one more to complete his 13th hundred when off-spinner Suraj Randiv began the 35th over. His first ball went for four byes, levelling the scores. Sehwag then smashed Randiv for a six but the delivery was declared a no-ball, meaning India had surpassed Sri Lanka's total of 170 without any runs being added to the batsman's score.
Television replays showed Randiv overstepped by a long way, indicating he may have deliberately bowled the no-ball to deny Sehwag a century. Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga had called him on Tuesday to apologise for the incident that threatened to spoil relations between the two teams.
"Nishantha rang to apologise on behalf of their board for the Sehwag incident," Biswal told reporters. "He agreed the incident was not in the spirit of the game. Since the secretary himself has called us, we are treating this matter as closed." The SLC also ordered a probe over whether the no-ball was deliberate or if any player had asked him Randiv to do it.
Sehwag wrote on his Twitter account that Randiv had apologised to him. "I don't need to see replays, it was a deliberate no-ball," said Sehwag. "They did it because no team want to have a hundred scored against them." The incident was slammed by the Indian media with most newspapers calling it "unsporting" and "against the spirit of the game."
SLC media manager Brian Thomas told AFP that team manager Anura Tennekoon had been asked to conduct an "immediate internal inquiry" after which appropriate action would be taken. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said he was unaware if anyone had asked Randiv to bowl the no-ball, but admitted the incident - and the rules of the game - denied Sehwag a deserved century. "I think if a batsman scores runs off a no-ball in such a situation, it should count for the batsman," he said.
"The way Viru (Sehwag) batted, he deserved to get a hundred. "I hope it was not deliberate. That's not the way I would like to play cricket. If that was intentional, it has got no place on the field of cricket. India play Sri Lanka in the return league match on August 22. New Zealand are the third team in the series.