There appears to be a great deal of confusion one day ahead of Sri Lanka’s match versus Zimbabwe in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as Sri Lanka found themselves fending off reports of one of their key players turning positive in the drug test conducted by the ICC.
It was quite a stunning turn of events to note that the Sri Lankan media were reportedly widely about Tillekeratne Dilshan not only being asked to submit a sample for a random drug test but also, of his turning positive, which if he did would have made him the second cricketer after Shane Warne in 2003 for a diuretic.

However, Dilshan was not even part of the random drug test if the Sri Lankan camp is to be believed. In fact it was none other than former Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene, who spoke on the team’s behalf and clarified that Dilshan was not even asked to take the drug test, let alone test positive. He even mentioned the names of Ajantha Mendis and Chamara Silva as the players chosen at random.

Dilshan has been at the receiving end of some rather unscrupulous set of rumours. Dilshan has not been able to fire in the tournament thus far, thereby leading to batting concerns. His name was previously dragged into controversy following the spot fixing scandal involving the Pakistan cricketers and now there are reports circulating about drug tests whose origins none is aware. In the truncated match against Australia, Dilshan and Shaun Tait got into a verbal spat that took focus away from Dilshan’s batting resulting in his downfall.

It would have been perhaps been harrowing for Dilshan had the reports been true. Nonetheless for cricket followers, it was a disconcerting story, a concocted one nonetheless.