Andre Nel

Durban: South African quick Andre Nel, known to ‘chirp’ on his follow-through, is being “watched.”

“He hasn’t been unofficially cautioned or anything because nobody has lodged a complaint with the Match Referee (Roshan Mahanama). However, he’s being watched and will surely be booked if somebody decides to complain,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph.

Speaking on Saturday afternoon (at the Northwood Crusaders Club), he added: “Besides any of the four umpires on duty, complaints can be lodged by the team managers, the chief executive of the home board and even the chief executive of the International Cricket Council...”

Even if Mahanama hasn’t conveyed a quiet message to the South Africans, he’s understood to have had a chat with Sreesanth when the two bumped into each other at the Southern Sun Elangeni’s gym the other day.

“Mahamana (who’d fined the Indian in the first Test) explained why it was important not to cross the line... Having played years of international cricket, he knows the emotions which go through the players, but there’s a Code of Conduct in place...” another well-placed source, in the Indian team, revealed.

Significantly, in punishing Sreesanth at the Wanderers, Mahanama had said: “We do not want robots out there, but we do want players to control their emotions... because they have to realise they are role models for all those watching...”

Mahanama, it may be recalled, captained Sri Lanka in ODIs and was a member of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad.