Asia Cup | Asghar Afghan handed second demerit point within 24 months

International matches are competitive and the situation can sometimes get out of hand. That’s exactly what happened in the recently-concluded close encounter between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The umpires and the match referee though were quick to notice that.

It was not a novel experience for Asghar Afghan as he was handed a demerit point last year when Afghanistan were playing against Zimbabwe. This time, however, he was also charged 15 percent of his match fee by match referee Andy Pycroft.

For Rashid Khan and Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali, this is was a first offence. Though they all received the sanctions in the same match, the occasions for the offence were different. The Afghanistan skipper was fined for hitting the shoulder of Hasan. While Rashid was charged for a terse index finger sendoff to Asif Ali, Hasan Ali was penalised for threatening to throw the ball towards Hashmatullah Shahidi.

Hasan and Asghar were found to have violated Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game", while Rashid breached Article 2.1.7, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an international match."

All the three players, after the match, accepted the deeds and also were ready to take the sanctions proposed against them.