By Anand Philar, IANS
Chennai : Fast bowler Santhakumaran Sreesanth might invite the wrath of the match referee after his run-ins with South African batsman A.B de Villiers during the second day of the first Test match here Thursday.
Sreesanth, who has been fined several times in his short career due to his on-field behaviour, needled de Villiers with chitchats.
The umpire cautioned Sreesanth Wednesday when he had a confrontation with Graeme Smith and Thursday’s incident might find him in trouble again.
Twice Sreesanth, bowling his fourth over with the second new ball, ended his follow-through within a whisker of de Villiers, trying to engage the batsman in an eye-to-eye confrontation.
When Sreesanth finally induced an edge from de Villiers for a catch to wicketkeeper Dhoni, the fast bowler did a little jig and stared at the batsman as he walked past before substitute fielder Yuvraj Singh deftly drew him away.
Sreesanth launched into a prolonged leg-before appeal after striking Mark Boucher on the pads. Umpire Tony Hill turned down the appeal even though the television replays showed Boucher plumb in front.
As of now, there are no indications that Sreesanth’s antics have been brought to the notice of match referee Roshan Mahanama.
Incidentally, it was Mahanama who fined Sreesanth during India’s last tour of South Africa.
Sreesanth was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for running towards Hashim Amla, having dismissed the batsman in South Africa’s second innings.