Shaheen might go unpunished

Shaheen Shah Afridi might go unpunished despite throwing the ball towards Afif Hossain which hit him in the ankle during the second Twenty20 match between Bangladesh and Pakistan on Saturday.

The left-arm pacer was just picked up for six by Afif in the second delivery of the third over.

In the next ball, Afif blocked the ball back to the bowler, and Shaheen, losing his temper, picked up the ball and with a fierce throw, hit the youngster who was standing right in front of the stumps, in the ankle. Afif immediately fell down, and his immense pain was visible.

Shaheen went to him to ask if he was okay, but that did not take the blow away as the Bangladesh physio ran onto the pitch to help the hurt batsman.

Shaheen came into the XI for the second match replacing Hasan Ali, who was reprimanded after he gave Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan a send-off in the first match.

But despite hitting Afif with the ball, Shaheen might go unpunished. Veteran ICC referee and former Bangladesh cricketer, Roquibul Hassan, told The Business Post that as Afif was standing right in front of the stumps, the bowler might not face any kind of punishment.

“The batsman was standing right in front of the stumps. If the bowler has picked the ball and thrown it at the stumps in one motion without stopping, then he is unlikely to face punishment,” Roquibul told TBP.

He added that still, the player would be called up to the referee if the on-field umpires mentioned it in their report. He said, “If the umpires put the incident in the match report, then the player will be called up by the match referee, and then the matter will be settled there.”