India and Sri Lanka "have been playing each other almost every second month in the last eight months" in the words of India's best spinner Harbhajan Singh which clearly shows that the India - Sri Lanka rivalry is not only becoming common but also boring to watch and PLAY for the cricketers. At least there was something uncommon about today's game (16th August 2010). The scorecard will show Virender Sehwag unbeaten on 99. For someone who missed watching the game, there are bound to be questions like how could he not score that one extra run or did the other batsman, Dhoni in this scenario, score the winning runs or was there an extra conceded by the bowlers.
Well!!! International Cricket Council (ICC) has been trying hard to imbibe the Spirit of Cricket theme in each of the cricket playing nation's players and even named the recent Australia Vs Pakistan series as the Spirit of Cricket series. This one delivery bowled by Suraj Randiv changes all that. Lacking sportsman spirit, Randiv deliberately bowled a "no-ball" wherein he overstepped by such a large amount that he has made himself a laughing stock in front of the entire cricketing fraternity. Sehwag as usual smashed it over long-off for a huge six and raised his bat in celebration, only to be told moments later that his six will not be considered , as India had already won on account of the no-ball. Rightly so, Sehwag was disappointed and retorted by saying "This is not the first time Sri Lanka has done this, they may have done it with other teams but with India it is the second time." The first time they did that was when Lasith Malinga bowled a wide down the leg side and conceded 4 wides while Sehwag's idol Sachin Tendulkar was left unbeaten on 96.
Randiv might deny his deliberate no-ball attempt but this incident has already put his young and budding carrier on a controversial path. Cricket fans around the world seem to echo the notion that in spite of what happens when a no-ball is bowled, the runs scored by a batsman should be added to his tally. While this controversy has just started to flow across websites and blogs throughout the world, ICC officials and match referees will be pondering whether to take some action against Randiv and whether they can make some minor "tweeks" in the rules of this beautiful Gentleman's game.
We'll wait and see what happens later but for now, lets rejoice this Indian win and a bonus point which will give us an advantage in the next round of the ongoing tri-series. Go India !!!
