Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh was sanctioned with a 15 per cent deduction from his match fee after he was found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct during the recent T20 World Cup final.
The incident occurred during a high-profile clash against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where India won by 96 runs.
The offense relates to Article 2.9 of the Code, which is “inappropriately and/or dangerously throwing the ball at or near a player during an international match”.
The flashpoint came in the 11th over as New Zealand chased down a tough target of 256. Arshdeep, following his delivery, collected the ball and threw it towards the stumps, inadvertently hitting Daryl Mitchell on the pads.
When Seamer walked back to his mark without immediately apologizing, Mitchell approached him to face him.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav immediately stepped in to mediate, while umpire Richard Illingworth also had a brief exchange with the bowler. Arshdeep apologized to Mitchell at the end of the over.
Reflecting on the incident during a post-match interview with Harsha Bhogle, Arshdeep clarified that there was no malicious intent.
“I went to apologize to Mitchell,” he explained. “My throw reverse-swinged and hit him and I wanted to apologize to him for that. It was not intentional.”
Harmony was then restored, with a video shared on the official Black Caps Instagram account showing Arshdeep offering a second apology, which ended in a handshake between the two players.
The charge was laid by field umpires Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf, third umpire Allauddin Palekar and fourth official Adrian Holdstock.
Since this marks Arshdeep’s first violation in a 24-month period, the fine falls within the standard range for Level 1 violations.
Such offenses carry a minimum penalty of official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player’s match fee plus one or two demerit points.