ICC takes action against Asif Ali, Fareed Ahmad for near-physical altercation
The players admitted their offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft.
ICC took note of the ugly altercation between Pakistan batter Asif Ali and Afghanistan fast bowler Fareed Ahmed that nearly turned physical during an Asia Cup Super 4 match at Sharjah on Wednesday. Both Asif Ali and Fareed Ahmed were fined for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct and were fined 25% of their respective match fees.
"Asif breached Article 2.6 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match' while Fareed was found to have breached Article 2.1.12, which relates to "inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match," ICC said in a release.
The players admitted their offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft.
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It all happened in the 19th over of Pakistan's chase. Pakistan had lost some quick wickets as Afghanistan came storming back in the low-scoring match. Asif Ali was at the non-striker's end seeing his partners lose their wicket. He finally got the strike back when No.10 Naseem Shah got a single. Asif added another twist in the match by hitting a gigantic six off Fareed to bring the equation down to 12 off 8 balls. The match turned again when the Afghanistan left-arm seamer bowled a bouncer in the fifth ball of the over and Asif top-edged to short fine leg.
The incident then took place when Ahmad was celebrating the wicket while Ali was walking off to the pavilion. The two players were nearly involved in a physical before being separated by the other Afghanistan players and the umpires.
Pakistan eventually ended up winning the contest, with Naseem Shah emerging as the unlikely hero with the bat. Needing 11 off the final over and with only 1 wicket in hand, Naseem hit two massive sixes off the first two deliveries against Fazhalhaq Farooqi as Pakistan won the match with four deliveries remaining.
