30 runs in 3 balls, one foot long no ball… match-fixing under ICC's nose? Questions raised on Sri Lankan legend

In the last few years, new records have been made in professional cricket for the thrashing of bowlers. Many times, 30 runs, 36 runs, and even 42 runs have been scored in an over. But all these have been seen at different times, at different places, and in different tournaments. But 30 runs in just 3 balls of an over, hearing this will make anyone's ears perk up and eyes will remain wide open. If this is not enough, then a no-ball with a foot-long leg out was also seen in that over. All this happened in a match of the Abu Dhabi T10 League, where this has now become a common sight and serious allegations of match-fixing have started being made.

In the shortest unofficial format of cricket, this Abu Dhabi T10 league has made its mark in the last 4-5 years. Earlier, mostly unknown or less famous cricketers used to play in this league, but due to the increasing popularity of T20 and T10 cricket leagues around the world, now famous cricketers are also playing in it. Stormy batting is being seen here, but the kind of bowling that is being seen has become a joke.

Stormy batting, shameful bowling, or….

The latest incident was on November 25, when the teams of Delhi Bulls and Bangla Tigers were clashing. In this match, Delhi batted first and scored 123 runs in 10 overs losing 6 wickets. For them, the number eight batsman Nikhil Chaudhary scored the highest 47 runs, that too in just 16 balls, which included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Out of this, Nikhil scored 28 runs in a single over.

Nikhil scored these runs by hitting fours and sixes but the spotlight was not garnered by him but by the bowler who bowled this over, that too for his astonishing bowling. This bowler was Dasun Shanaka. He conceded 33 runs in this over but 30 of these runs came in just 3 balls. Yes, 30 runs came in his 3 legal balls and this happened because Shanaka crossed all limits of poor bowling and bowled 4 no-balls along with 3 balls in the over.

His first ball resulted in a four. Then the next two balls were no-balls and fours were hit on them too. The next ball, i.e. the second correct ball, resulted in a four. Then the third correct ball resulted in a six. Then the next ball was a no-ball but no run was scored. After this, he again bowled a no-ball and a four was hit on that. That is, the picture was something like this - 4, 4(nb),4(nb),4,6,(nb),4(nb).

… match-fixing?

Shanka came back and gave away just one run on the last 3 balls and 33 runs were conceded from the over. But the way his no-balls were played was even more shocking. On one no-ball, his foot was almost a foot outside the crease. Generally, a no-ball of one-two centimeters or one-two inches is usually visible but a no-ball of one foot is enough to put it under suspicion. It was inevitable that this would lead to allegations of match fixing and that is what happened. Many fans called it open-fixing on social media and demanded to stop the tournament.

All this is happening right under the nose of the ICC

This is not the first time. Just a few days ago, another bowler had bowled a similar long no-ball. Such scenes have been seen in the last few seasons as well. This is also shocking because Shanaka is not a small player, but he is an experienced all-rounder of Sri Lanka and was also the former captain who won the Asia Cup two years ago. He was also a part of the team till recently. Apart from this, all this is happening under the nose of the ICC because the ICC headquarters is in Dubai, just a short distance from Abu Dhabi. In such a situation, will the ICC take action on this?