ICC suspends Ishant Sharma and Dinesh Chandimal for on field spat, 2 others fined

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka _ India bowler Ishant Sharma and Sri Lanka batsman Dinesh Chandimal have been given one-match suspensions by cricket’s governing body while two other Sri Lankan players have been fined after disciplinary breaches during the third test.

The International Cricket Council said in a statement Tuesday that Chandimal will miss Sri Lanka’s one-day international against West Indies on Nov. 1, while Sharma will sit out India’s first test against South Africa starting Nov. 5.

The ICC said Chandimal was sanctioned for making physical contact with Sharma during an argument Monday that Sharma was having with Sri Lanka’s Dhammika Prasad.

Sharma was suspended after making offensive gestures as a send-off to a dismissed batsman for the third time during the series, which finished on Tuesday with India sealing its first test series win in Sri Lanka in 22 years.

Sharma had been fined 65 per cent of his match fee for aggressive send-offs to a batsman twice during the second test.

Prasad and Lahiru Thirmanne were fined 50 per cent of their match fees.

Thirimanne was fined because he twice ignored umpires’ warnings not to get involved in the dispute between Sharma and Prasad.

“Monday’s incidents were not good advertisements for international cricket. These experienced cricketers forgot their fundamental responsibilities of respecting their opponents as well as the umpires and got involved in incidents which were clearly against the spirit of the game,” Andy Pycroft, the ICC’s match referee for the game, said in the statement.

“Their actions cannot be condoned and must be discouraged.”