Sohail Tanvir, Ben Cutting engage in heated 'middle finger' exchange during PSL game

Things got heated during a Pakistan Super League game between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators on Tuesday when Zalmi's Ben Cutting engaged in a war of words with Sohail Tanvir of the Gladiators. The duo shares an ugly history that dates back to 2018 when Tanvir showed Cutting a double middle-finger gesture after dismissing him in a Caribbean Premier League game.

On Tuesday, Cutting duly returned the favor after he slammed 27 runs off Tanvir's over, which included three sixes. After hitting the third successive six of the over, Cutting gave the Pakistan bowler a middle finger and led a verbal charge towards Tanvir. The fast bowler turned and responded immediately with the umpire intervening between the two.

Cutting was eventually dismissed in the first delivery of the next over by Naseem Shah and Sohail Tanvir, who took his catch, then celebrated with the double middle-finger gesture again.

Both players were fined 15 per cent of their match fees for breaching a Level 1 offence of the PSL Code of Conduct.

According to a statement, both the players were found to have violated Article 2.6 of the PSL Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during a PSL Match".

"Such type of inappropriate gestures have no space in this great sport. The players need to always understand and remember their on and off the field responsibilities as they are role models and behaviour like this sends out a wrong message to the younger generation of cricketers," Match referee Ali Naqvi said in a statement.

"The HBL PSL 2022 is being played in good, positive spirits and I would like to see the players continue to fight hard inside the field of play but at the same time to remain within the parameters of the spirit of the game," he added.