Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has been fined 10% of his match fee and handed one demerit point for a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct during the Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan.
The incident occurred on day five of the Test, when Shakib ran up to bowl and pulled up short when he realised that the batter Mohammad Rizwan was not yet ready to face. Rizwan was turned away from the bowler, having a word with Bangladesh keeper Litton Das. When Rizwan turned towards Shakib, the bowler threw the ball to Litton in an arc that passed over the batter’s head. Umpire Richard Kettleborough was seen to reprimand Shakib on the field after the incident.
Match referee Ranjan Madugalle ruled that Shakib had breached Article 2.9 of the ICC code of conduct, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match.”
Shakib admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Madugalle, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Kettleborough and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Michael Gough and fourth umpire Rashid Riaz levelled the charges.
This was Shakib’s first demerit point in the last 24 months. If a player accumulates four or more demerit points in a 24-month period, they shall be converted to suspension points. Accumulation of suspension points will lead to the player’s suspension from international matches, with ODIs and T20Is carrying a weightage of one suspension point each, and Test matches carrying a weightage of two suspension points.
Shakib, who played a key role in Bangladesh’s Rawalpindi win with 3 for 44 in Pakistan’s second innings, is playing this series under a considerable cloud. He is among 147 people charged in a murder case filed in Dhaka relating to the recent student protests that culminated in the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. Shakib was an MP belonging to Hasina’s Awami League party.