Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar slammed Sri Lanka’s unprofessional approach amid the bad-light controversy on the second day of the second Test match against India at Colombo on Monday. Sri Lankan batters were not happy with the light at the fag end of the day’s play and made their intentions clear to the two standing umpires.

However, the umpires decided to carry on with the play. Sri Lankan opener Lahiru Udara was taken brilliantly by Yashasvi Jaiswal at slip, whereas the nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya was plumbed in front of the wickets by Manav Suthar, leaving the hosts struggling at 8-2 after India declared at 503-9.

Jayasuriya showed his frustration as he struck the boundary wedges with his bat on his way back to the pavilion. The Sri Lankan spinner was subsequently sanctioned for an incident, receiving one demerit point.

“I see that as being slightly unprofessional. I know you want to nudge the umpire, saying it’s bad light, but you can’t take your eye off the ball. I thought the bad-light situation and their angst with the umpire consumed their minds, and they weren’t focusing on the ball because the light was never that bad. We know the light is never so bad that you can’t see the ball. It’s just that there is a certain amount of darkness that is considered bad light, and it’s offered to the batter,” Manjrekar said on Sony Sports Network.

Manjrekar praised Suthar for producing a seam-up delivery, which came back into Jayasuriya and caught him in front of the wickets.

“Then maybe Sri Lanka had a point that it was bad light enough, but that doesn’t condone the mistake that they made now. You can’t blame a night watcher for getting out. That was a great delivery from Suthar, in a nice variation and a superb delivery from process at the finish as well,” he added.

Sri Lanka ended the third day’s play on 265-8, trailing India’s score by 238 runs.