Pacer Haris Rauf and opener Sahibzada Farhan were on Friday reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for gestures made during the Asia Cup Super Four match against arch-rivals India, ESPNCricinfo reported.
According to the publication, the pacer was fined 30 per cent of his match fee by match referee Richie Richardson. At the same time, “It is understood that Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan was not fined and let off with a warning by Richardson.
“Rauf was seen responding to heckling from Indian fans by signalling 6-0 with his hands and making gestures depicting the downing of aircraft, in apparent reference to the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May this year,” the report read. “Farhan had celebrated his fifty by mimicking a gunshot.”
Earlier, India captain Suryakumar Yadav was found guilty by the ICC of breaching the code of conduct for his comments that alluded to the brief military skirmish between India and Pakistan this year, after their group stage match in the Asia Cup on September 14, ESPNcricinfo reported.
“It is understood Suryakumar’s not-guilty plea was rejected by ICC match referee Richie Richardson and that he was fined 30pc of his match fee. India have appealed against the verdict,” the publication reported.
The move came after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lodged an official complaint with the ICC against Yadav for dedicating its September 14 win over Pakistan to “the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack”.
At least 24 people had been killed in the April attack, which led to a brief military escalation between India and Pakistan, as New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack without evidence.
“The PCB had demanded the ICC impose a Level 4 sanction — reserved for the most serious breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct — on Suryakumar. It cited past examples of players who were either prevented from what was deemed political messaging or fined for deploying it,” the ESPNcricinfo report added.
Pakistan won by 11 runs after stumbling to 135-8 in the virtual semi-final against Bangladesh in their men’s Asia Cup Super Four fixture at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
With that win, the Green Shirts bookëd their final date with archrivals India for the first time in the 17th iteration of the Asia Cup on Sunday.
