Lankan cricketers breach security cover, go partying

Kolkata:

Sri Lankan cricketers, including senior batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan, gave the local police some anxious moments when they went for a night-out in the city without security cover on Tuesday.

According to sources, some members of the visiting team went partying at a bar at Camac Street putting local police in a tizzy.

The cricketers left the hotel at around 11:00 pm.

While some of the Sri Lankan team members returned early, Jayasuriya and Dilshan came back around 2:00 am, the sources said.

"Many of them went out but returned soon. Only the duo of Dilshan and Jayasuriya returned quite late. If somebody goes out of security, what can we do? They are all responsible cricketers," local manager of the team Samir Dasgupta said.

Sri Lankan team management, however, denied that the duo returned late and said they did not go for any party or fun.

"There was no concern as the cricketers had informed the management and police before stepping out. Not all cricketers went out, just a few of them had gone and returned in about an hour," Lankan manager Brendon Kuruppu told PTI.

"There were policemen, hotel and security staff escorting them and they did not go for partying. And on top of that it was a day off for them," Kuruppu added.

Also yesterday, Dilshan went to the house of his Delhi Daredevils teammate Manoj Tiwari.

Incidentally, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dilshan did not turn up for today's optional practice session.

Following the terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan earlier this year, security has always been a concern.

In the wake of a terror alert and the intelligence inputs about possible suicide attacks on the vital installations in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, security cover of the cricketers have been beefed up.