Pakistan seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been fined 15% of his match fee for hitting Bangladesh batsman Afif Hossain with the ball in the second Twenty20 international between the side, ICC informed on Sunday.
Afridi 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 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.”
In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Afridi, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.
The incident occurred in the third over of Bangladesh’s innings, when Afridi fielded the ball on his follow through and threw it at Afif Hossain, hitting him on the foot, when the batter was within the popping crease and not intending to take a run.
Afridi admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Neeyamur Rashid of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees and ratified by the ICC Cricket Operations department as per the Covid-19 interim playing regulations. There was no need for a formal hearing.
Shaheen had apologized to Afif immediately after the incident and also after the match, where Bangladesh lost by eight wickets.
