Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi fined after throwing ball at Bangladesh batsman during 2nd T20I

Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been fined 15 per cent of his match fees for throwing a ball at Bangladesh batsman Afif Hossain during the second T20 international in Dhaka earlier this week.

In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Afridi, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.

Afridi was found to have breached Article 2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match.”

Hossain needed treatment after being hit on the foot by Afridi, who threw the ball in a fit of rage at the batsman on his follow-through after being hit for a six a ball before that.

Afridi admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Neeyamur Rashid of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees and ratified by the ICC Cricket Operations department as per the COVID-19 interim playing regulations. There was no need for a formal hearing.

Afridi later apologised to Hossain after Pakistan’s win over Bangladesh in the second T20I. The Pakistan Cricket Board released a video of Shaheen walking up to Hussain after the match and apologising to him for the action and also hugging him with a smile.

Shaheen Shah Afridi went up to Afif Hossain post-match #SpiritofCricket pic.twitter.com/F1dO6F8gn0

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 20, 2021

Shaheen’s unnecessary aggressive behaviour was apparently not well received either by the Pakistan team management or the Pakistan Cricket Board and the fast bowler was immediately conveyed he must apologise to Afif.

Pakistan won the second T20 match to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series but the behaviour of another pacer, Hasan Ali also didn’t go down well with the management.

Hasan was also reprimanded by the International Cricket Council match referee and given a level one offence warning after he rudely gestured to Bangladesh wicketkeeper batter, Nurul Hasan to go back to the pavilion after having dismissed him in the first T20 international on Friday.