Vaibhav Sooryavanshi punished after the altercation in the IND-A vs SL-A match? Here's the update
A major controversy recently erupted during the India A versus Sri Lanka A one-day tri-series match in Dambulla, escalating to a physical altercation between the players. Sri Lanka A defeated India A in the Super Over; however, a heated argument and a scuffle subsequently broke out on the field between 15-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Vishen Halambage. Various former and current cricketers have expressed differing opinions on the incident; some condemned it as contrary to the spirit of sportsmanship, while others attributed the tension to frustration over umpiring decisions.
BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia has now broken his silence on the matter, advising the India A players to "focus on their game instead of getting distracted by trivial issues."
"India A is playing a major tournament, all the upcoming players who can stake their claim for the Indian senior team, they are in the midst of a very big tournament, a tri-nation series, so they should concentrate on their game rather than getting distracted from any collateral issues," Saikia said.
When asked if he had spoken to Suryavanshi about the incident, Saikia replied,
"They should not focus on that, they should concentrate on their game and they should give their best performance so that India can come out with a victory in the tri-nation series. That is our only concern now."
“We will follow this policy that during a major tournament when they are playing for the country, they should not get distracted by any other secondary issues, which are not of paramount importance. The important thing is India's winning and performing well in the tri-series. So, that is our focus and other than that, we are not doing anything at this stage."
"At this stage, we are concentrating, and we are allowing our players to focus on their game, not to focus on any other side issues. They should focus on their games and the BCCI is with the team and their game, nothing else," he added.
After the 50-over match ended in a tie, the umpires had initially refused to conduct a Super Over; however, following repeated requests from Tilak Varma and with the consent of both teams, the Super Over was played despite the fading light. Sri Lanka A scored 16 runs in the Super Over, while India could manage only 9 in reply.
However, as the players were leaving the field after the match, Halambage and Vanuja Sahan used abusive language towards Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Suryansh Shedge, telling them the match was over and they should go home. This led to a confrontation involving Vaibhav, which escalated into a scuffle. In the video, Shedge was seen brandishing his bat at Halambage, prompting Suryavanshi to turn around and argue with the Sri Lankan player. Suryavanshi and Halambage were seen shoving each other, and Dickwella, along with other players, stepped in to separate them and defuse the situation.
"A Sri Lankan player had abused Vaibhav as he was walking off the field, but the batter is better advised to avoid being distracted by sledging," a source tracking developments told this paper.
According to sources, the India A team was already quite upset with the "highly biased umpiring" by Sri Lankan umpires Rageeth Rambookwela and Shanta Fonseca; they had repeatedly called for correct decisions, but to no avail, leading to frustration among the Indian players.
However, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar acknowledged that Vaibhav should have been punished after that incident. He stated that had he been the coach or mentor of India A, he would have dropped him for the final match against Afghanistan A.
If I was India A coach or manager I would have left Vaibhav Suryavanshi out for this game v AFG. Only to let him know that’s it’s not OK to get physical on the field. Whatever the provocations.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 17, 2026
