today's match gonna be fun 
With all his talk about upholding the spirit of the game, it was ironic that Kumar Sangakkara found himself being summoned by the match referee after Friday's washout.
He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after being charged with a Level 2 offence, with Alan Hurst finding him "not guilty" of breaching the code of conduct after a collision and exchange of words with Kiwi Nathan McCullum. Hurst said there was "reasonable doubt" whether Sangakkara's act was "deliberate".
The Lankan skipper, though, seemed unusually voluble after the let-off, making his displeasure clear over the fact that McCullum too had not been summoned for the hearing. In what seemed like yet another dig at the Indian cricketers, he also said "we don't hide behind the Board and we don't hide behind the media" when it came to being hauled up for creating unpleasantness. He added: "If we make a mistake we take the responsibility. If it's serious, we take it on the chin. We take it like men and move on."
The sparks, clearly, are flying heading into Sunday's clash against MS Dhoni's men, and Sanga's comments since the Randiv flare-up have been a marked contrast to the usually staid diplomatic words mouthed by other top cricketers.
"For some reason McCullum was obstructing my way. Sometimes bowlers tend to do this to deny the batsman a comfortable second run," he said, "I had no way of avoiding the collision. I tried my best to make sure the bat was away from Nathan, or I could have done him an injury. If I had run around him I could have been run out. Unfortunately it came to a funny situation where only I had to defend myself (following the exchange). In a situation like this, it should be either both players who are summoned or the video footage should be looked at beforehand."
McCullum, incidentally, sparked off the exchange, and Sangakkara found restraint hard to come by and reacted. Eventually, the Kiwi took an excellent catch to dismiss the batsman, sparking off a round of rather melodramatic fist-pumping.
"He (Hurst) did ask me whether McCullum did it intentionally," said Sanga, "I said I don't want to comment on any other player. Sometimes players are ruled LBW, they show the bat and no action is taken. Yesterday's incident, it was without seeing whose fault it was and without seeing the footage (that I was summoned)," said an agitated Sangakkara.
This isn't the first time that the ICC finds itself being lambasted for charging a player from the subcontinent while letting off the opposition.
Asked if too much was being made about players having to uphold the "spirit of the game" in pressure situations on the field, the Lankan skipper reiterated why playing in the right manner was important: "At the end of the day it's a perception, an idea. It's a funny thing. In Sri Lanka's schools, we have been brought up to play the right way, not argue with the umpires. It's important that you do that even in the fiercest of competitions. At the end of the day, you can be the best cricketer but if it doesn't give you the respect of being a good person, no one will value that."
With all his talk about upholding the spirit of the game, it was ironic that Kumar Sangakkara found himself being summoned by the match referee after Friday's washout.
He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing after being charged with a Level 2 offence, with Alan Hurst finding him "not guilty" of breaching the code of conduct after a collision and exchange of words with Kiwi Nathan McCullum. Hurst said there was "reasonable doubt" whether Sangakkara's act was "deliberate".
The Lankan skipper, though, seemed unusually voluble after the let-off, making his displeasure clear over the fact that McCullum too had not been summoned for the hearing. In what seemed like yet another dig at the Indian cricketers, he also said "we don't hide behind the Board and we don't hide behind the media" when it came to being hauled up for creating unpleasantness. He added: "If we make a mistake we take the responsibility. If it's serious, we take it on the chin. We take it like men and move on."
The sparks, clearly, are flying heading into Sunday's clash against MS Dhoni's men, and Sanga's comments since the Randiv flare-up have been a marked contrast to the usually staid diplomatic words mouthed by other top cricketers.
"For some reason McCullum was obstructing my way. Sometimes bowlers tend to do this to deny the batsman a comfortable second run," he said, "I had no way of avoiding the collision. I tried my best to make sure the bat was away from Nathan, or I could have done him an injury. If I had run around him I could have been run out. Unfortunately it came to a funny situation where only I had to defend myself (following the exchange). In a situation like this, it should be either both players who are summoned or the video footage should be looked at beforehand."
McCullum, incidentally, sparked off the exchange, and Sangakkara found restraint hard to come by and reacted. Eventually, the Kiwi took an excellent catch to dismiss the batsman, sparking off a round of rather melodramatic fist-pumping.
"He (Hurst) did ask me whether McCullum did it intentionally," said Sanga, "I said I don't want to comment on any other player. Sometimes players are ruled LBW, they show the bat and no action is taken. Yesterday's incident, it was without seeing whose fault it was and without seeing the footage (that I was summoned)," said an agitated Sangakkara.
This isn't the first time that the ICC finds itself being lambasted for charging a player from the subcontinent while letting off the opposition.
Asked if too much was being made about players having to uphold the "spirit of the game" in pressure situations on the field, the Lankan skipper reiterated why playing in the right manner was important: "At the end of the day it's a perception, an idea. It's a funny thing. In Sri Lanka's schools, we have been brought up to play the right way, not argue with the umpires. It's important that you do that even in the fiercest of competitions. At the end of the day, you can be the best cricketer but if it doesn't give you the respect of being a good person, no one will value that."
