Sri Lanka cricket team captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged with ball tampering and altering the condition of the ball in the ongoing test match against West Indies played in St. Lucia. This comes a day after the Sri Lanka team 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.

Earlier, on Day 3  before the start of play, the on field umpires- Ian Gould and Aleem Dar were reportedly not happy and satisfied with the condition of the ball. According to media reports, the umpires also have complaints about how the Sri Lankan team ‘handled’ the ball on Day 2.

Sri Lanka were indeed charged for changing or altering the ball’s condition which allowed West Indies to pick the ball after the resume of play. The Sri Lankan players did not like this and refused to take to the field on time. They were penalised for it and West Indies were awarded five extra penalty runs. This helped West Indies take their total from 118 for 2 to 123 for the loss of 2 wickets.

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal was seen arguing and discussing with the umpires and the Sri Lankan players were on their way back to the dressing room. Meanwhile, Match referee Javagal Srinath, was seen talking to the Sri Lankan team officials. The play finally resumed and cricket was back on the field with a delay of about two hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 17, 2018 03:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).