Shehzar fined, Imran warned

KARACHI: Sindh’s Shehzar Mohammad has been fined 20 percent of his match fee for breaching the PCB Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel during his side’s innings and 37 runs defeat at the hands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) game here at the SBP Ground.

Shehzar was found to have violated Article 2.8 of the PCB Code of Conduct, which deals with showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.

The incident happened in the 26th over of Sindh’s second innings on Thursday (third day of the match), when Shehzar, after being declared lbw off Khalid Usman, stayed on the pitch awhile, expressing his disappointment at the decision.

After the day’s play, Shehzar pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Iftikhar Ahmed. The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Waleed Yaqoob and Faisal Afridi.

In a separate incident, Imran Rafiq of Southern Punjab was warned for a violation of Article 2.8 during his side’s 205-run win against Balochistan in the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy outing played at the National Stadium.

The incident happened in the 76th over of Southern Punjab’s second innings on day three when Imran raised his arms to indicate that the ball had not touched anything when a caught-behind appeal was made and rubbed his thigh pad after being declared out.

After the day’s play, Imran pleaded guilty to the charge and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Javed Malik. The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Asif Yaqoob and third umpire Rashid Riaz.

All first offences in Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official warning and/or imposition of a fine of up to 70 percent of the applicable match fee.