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Two days after his war or words with India’s Gautam Gambhir in the third one-dayer in Kanpur, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was fined by the match referee Roshan Mahanama for breaching the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Code of Conduct.

Afridi was found guilty of breaching the Code of Conduct and fined 95 percent of his match fee while Gambhir was fined 65 percent of his match fee. The punishments were handed down by Mahanama following hearings here on Wednesday after charges against the duo were laid down by ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed and related to an incident which took place during the India innings.

According to a statement issued by the ICC, the players were each charged under two counts of the ICC Code of Conduct, C2, at Level 2, “…conduct unbecoming to their status which could bring them or the game of cricket into disrepute,” and Level 2.4 which relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play.”

Gambhir hit the third ball of an Afridi over for four and there was then a verbal exchange between the two players. Then, from the next ball, Gambhir looked to work the ball on the onside. The ball deflected out onto the off-side, Gambhir took a single and, in the process of doing so, batsman and bowler collided. A heated altercation took place between the two players that forced umpire Ian Gould, standing at the bowler’s end, to get involved.

Afridi was fined 75 percent of his match fee for the offence of inappropriate and deliberate physical contact and 20 percent of his fee for the disrepute charge. Gambhir was fined 50 percent of his match fee for being found guilty of the offence of inappropriate and deliberate physical contact and 15 percent of his fee for the disrepute charge.

Mahanama, former Sri Lanka Test player, downgraded both disrepute charges to Level 1, something he is entitled to do under the Code of Conduct. “Both players pleaded not guilty to the charges but even if the collision between them was viewed as an accident I still felt it was inappropriate,” he said.

“On top of that, there was a build up to that incident and then they stood toe-to-toe arguing in mid-pitch immediately afterwards. It is not the sort of example that players should be setting at any time, least of all in a series as high-profile as this one.”

He added: “In handing down these fines I took into account the fact that this was the first time Gautam Gambhir has appeared before a disciplinary hearing, hence his punishment is below that of Shahid Afridi.”

The hearing involving Shahid Afridi was attended by the player charged, as well as Pakistan team manager Talat Ali and captain Shoaib Malik. Gautam Gambhir’s hearing was attended by team manager Lalchand Rajput and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Both hearings were attended by one of the on-field umpires Amiesh Saheba while the other on-field official Ian Gould participated via telephone. Video evidence was used during both hearings.

Source:Cricket News