India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, has been suspended for her team’s next two international matches due to two separate breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third match of their ICC Women’s Championship series against Bangladesh in Dhaka. This makes her the first female cricketer to breach the ICC Code of Conduct.
In response to her actions, Kaur has been fined 50 percent of her match fee and has received three demerit points for a Level 2 offence. This penalty was imposed after she was found guilty of breaching article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which pertains to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision.” Additionally, she was fined 25 percent of her match fee and received one more demerit point for a Level 1 offence for breaching article 2.7, which relates to “public criticism in relation to an incident occurring in an international match.”
The first breach occurred in the 34th over of India’s innings when Kaur expressed dissent by hitting the wickets with her bat after being adjudged caught at slip off spinner Nahida Akter. The second incident took place during the presentation ceremony, where Kaur criticized the umpiring in the match.
Kaur acknowledged her mistakes, accepted the proposed sanctions put forth by Akhtar Ahmed of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, and as a result, a formal hearing was not necessary. The charges were leveled by on-field umpires Tanvir Ahmed and Muhammad Kamruzzaman, third umpire Moniruzzamman, and fourth umpire Ali Arman.
