Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the India women’s team, was found guilty of two different violations of the ICC Code of Conduct and has been suspended for the next two international games.
The occurrences happened on July 22 2023 in Dhaka during the third game of the ICC Women’s Championship series versus Bangladesh.
The first incident happened precisely when Kaur whacked the wickets with her bat in a fit of rage after being dismissed for being caught at slip by spinner Nahida Akter in the 34th over of India’s batting.
For the Level 2 offence, Kaur was fined 50 per cent of her match money and given three demerit points on her disciplinary record.
She was found guilty of violating “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision” under item 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.
In addition, Kaur was penalised 25 per cent of her match money for a Level 1 offence of “public criticism in relation to an incident occurring in an international match” after she openly attacked the match’s umpiring during the presentation ceremony. For the same, she was given one demerit point on her record.
The Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees member Akhtar Ahmed proposed punishment, and the Indian captain voluntarily accepted them. There was no need for a formal hearing as a consequence, and the sanctions were applied right away.
While a Level 1 breach carries a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of the player’s match fee as well as one or two demerit points, a Level 2 breach typically carries a penalty ranging from 50 to 100 percent of the player’s match fee.
Kaur’s ban from one Test match, two ODIs, or two T20Is, whichever comes first for the team, was the result of the accumulation of four demerit points from the offences, which were translated to two suspension points in Kaur’s case.