The incident occurred after umpire Lyndon Hannibal didn’t rule a high full-toss from Wafadar Momand to Kamindu Mendis a no-ball. Sri Lanka required 11 runs off three balls when the controversy happened. They went on to lose the match by three runs.

Hasaranga expressed his disappointment at the decision and after the match said: “That kind of thing shouldn’t happen in an international match. If it had been close, that’s not a problem. But a ball that’s going so high… it would have hit the batsman’s head if it had gone a little higher.

“If you can’t see that, that umpire isn’t suited to international cricket. It would be much better if he did another job.”

Sri Lanka star handed two-match suspension for breaching ICC Code of Conduct.https://t.co/eWyf4kybza

— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2024

“Hasaranga was found guilty of breaching article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘Personal abuse of a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire or Match Referee during an International Match’,” the ICC  released a statement.

The punishment has led to Hasaranga accumulating five demerit points, three of which were due to this incident, resulting in his suspension from a Test, two ODIs or T20Is, which comes first. Sri Lanka will take the field without Hasaranga when they face Bangladesh in the first two T20Is in March.

Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz was also fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed a demerit point for “disobeying an umpire’s instruction during an international match.” As per the ICC, Gurbaz was charged for “altering the grip of his bat on the field despite repeated warnings against doing so. He currently has two demerit points.