Sanga takes it on the chin, says he’s moved on

When Kumar Sangakkara takes field in a must-win game against India on Sunday, he will have a point to prove. He will have to put behind recent controversies to prove his mettle, reports Amol Karhadkar.

When Kumar Sangakkara takes field in a must-win game against India on Sunday, he will have a point to prove. He will have to put behind recent controversies to prove his mettle.

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“As individuals we take pride in what we do on the field. If something happens on the field, we leave it on the field. If it's serious, we take it on the chin. We take it like men and move on,” said the Sri Lanka skipper on Saturday.

Trouble for him started in Monday's match against India, when two Sri Lankan players were punished and he was warned following the 'no-ball incident'. Then on Friday, he was charged with a Level 2 offence for colliding into New Zealand's Nathan McCullum while running between the wickets. Though found "not guilty" by the match referee Alan Hurst in a hearing that followed the abandoned game, Sangakkara minced no words about the incident. "In a situation like that, either both players should be hauled up or the video footage should be looked at," Sangakkara said, unhappy with the three Sri Lankan umpires who reported the matter to the match referee.

"We have seen situations when players are ruled leg before wicket, and they show the bat. On those occasions, no action was taken. Yesterday's decision was taken without seeing whose fault it was and without seeing the footage." By saying this, Sangakkara hit two birds with an arrow -pointed out the ineptness of the umpires and took a dig at Rohit Sharma, who had shown his bat to the umpire after being adjudged leg-before wicket on Monday.