"Outburst Against Umpire Decision Leads to Historic Penalty and Controversy"

"Indian Women's Cricket Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, Faces Ban Over Umpire Outburst"

Indian women's cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, has been given a two-match ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following her outburst during a match against Bangladesh in Dhaka on July 24th, 2023. During the game, Kaur expressed her frustration with an umpiring decision by smashing her bat on the stumps and gesturing in protest towards the umpire, Tanvir Ahmed.

Reasons for the Ban :

The ICC stated that Kaur was found guilty of two separate breaches of its Code of Conduct. Firstly, she violated article 2.8, which relates to "showing dissent at an umpire's decision." Secondly, she was fined 25 percent of her match fee for a Level 1 offence, which involved "public criticism in relation to an incident occurring in an international match." Kaur openly criticized the umpiring during the post-match ceremony.If found guilty of a level-two breach, Kaur could be the first woman cricketer to face such a penalty under the ICC's code of conduct governing player behavior.

Kaur's previous misconduct earned her a demerit point during the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia. The ICC's regulations state that accumulating four or more demerit points within 24 months leads to suspension points. In Kaur's case, she is likely to receive three demerit points for damaging playing equipment and one for criticizing match officials, totaling four demerit points, which equals two suspension points resulting in a two-match ban.

The final decision regarding Kaur's penalty lies with the ICC, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in discussions with the world governing body on the matter. If the ban stands, Kaur will miss the first two matches of the upcoming South Africa home series.

Also Read: https://www.arthprakash.com/silencing-the-critics--bajrang-punia-and-vinesh-phogat-speak-out-on-asian-games-trail-exemption/