India opener Shubman Gill has been fined 15 per cent of his World Test Championship final match fees for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct, following his social media posts regarding his contentious dismissal in the second innings against Australia.
Gill fined: What is the sanction?
According to an ICC media release, Gill was fined for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Specifically, he was found to have breached Article 2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match.”
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What is the incident?
The incident occurred at the end of day four at the Kia Oval, when Gill criticised the umpiring decision for his dismissal in the second innings of the match on social media.
There had been considerable debate over whether Cam Green’s catch of Gill, at gully, was a clean grab. Many questioned whether there was considerable evidence to suggest the ball had not touched the ground in his attempt.
🔎🔎🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/pOnHYfgb6L
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) June 10, 2023
Gill had posted screengrabs of the incident on both Twitter and Instagram. He tweeted a pair of magnifying glass emojis along with a facepalm emoji, while on Instagram he went with a series of clap emojis on a Story.
The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Richard Kettleborough and fourth umpire Kumar Dharmasena.
What are the future implications of the sanction?
In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Gill’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.
Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned.
Two suspension points equate to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is (whichever comes first for the player )
The Demerit Points remain on a player’s (or player support personnel’s) disciplinary record for a period of twenty-four (24) months from their imposition following which they are expunged.
Were there other sanctions too?
India were fined 100 percent of their match fee and Australia 80 percent of their match fee for maintaining slow over-rates in the final.
Match referee Richie Richardson imposed the sanctions after India were ruled to be five overs short of the target (time allowances taken into consideration), whereas Australia were found to be four overs short.
In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over rate offences, players are fined 20 percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
Captains Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins accepted the proposed sanctions.
