Dinesh Chandimal (centre) will attend a hearing after the second Test after denying that he tampered with the ball

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has pleaded not guilty to the ball tampering charge levelled against him by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Chandimal was charged with breaching Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to changing the condition of the ball.

The charges were laid by on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould, and third umpire Richard Kettleborough.

The ICC have accused Chandimal of “changing the condition of the ball”, but since he has denied doing so, a hearing will be held after the ongoing second Test against the West Indies in St Lucia. The hearing will be headed by match referee Javagal Srinath.

The ICC claim to have television footage, which shows Chandimal putting sweets in his mouth before applying “the artificial substance” on the ball, thus altering its condition.

“The officials laid the charge after television footage from the final session’s play on Friday appeared to show the Sri Lanka captain taking sweets out from his left pocket and putting these in his mouth, before applying the artificial substance to the ball which the umpires viewed as an attempt to change its condition,” an ICC statement said.

“Video evidence will be used in the hearing, which will also be attended by the match officials as well as members of the Sri Lanka team management.”

Sri Lanka Cricket released a statement on Saturday, which said: “The team management has informed us that Sri Lankan players have not engaged in any wrong doing. SLC shall take all necessary steps to defend any player, in the event any unwarranted allegation is brought against a member of the team.”

The board’s statement came after play was delayed for two hours on the third day due to Sri Lanka being unhappy about the accusations that they changed the condition of the ball. In addition to the delay, five runs were awarded to the West Indies.