India seamer was fined 15% of his match fees for the incident involving Daryl Mitchell in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday. In the 11th over of New Zealand’s innings, Arshdeep fielded the ball on his follow-through and threw it towards Mitchell hitting the batter. Mitchell was irate and India skipper Suryakumar Yadav had to calm him down. However, Arshdeep and Mitchell made amends just after the over after the two shook hands.
The ICC said that the sanction to Arshdeep was due to the bowler breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. The release stated that Arshdeep was found to have breached Article 2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment) at or near a player in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match.”
“In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Arshdeep’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period,” it added.
Arshdeep accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf, third umpire Allahuddien Paleker and fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock levelled the charge.
Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
After the game, Arshdeep offered a heartfelt apology to Mitchell which could be seen in a video posted by the BlackCaps’ Instagram handle.
“I know I can apologise as much as I can but, really sorry,” Arshdeep can be heard telling Mitchell in the video before the pair shake hands and then share a chuckle. Arshdeep then spoke about it in an interview with the broadcasters. When commentator Harsha Bhogle pointed out that Arshdeep ran away briefly just as he was about to chat, the latter said: “Just went to apologise to Mitchell. My throw reverse-swung and hit him so just wanted to say sorry to him for that. It was not intentional,” said Arshdeep.
