Afghanistan’s right-handed opener, Rahmanullah Gurbazm, has been warned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his side’s historic 69-run win against England at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on October 15.
“Gurbaz was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match.”,” ICC said in an official statement.
“Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.”
The incident took place during the 19th over of the winning side’s innings when Gurbaz hit his bat to the boundary rope and a chair when he was leaving the field as he was run out just 20 runs shy of a well-deserved century following a miscommunication with his skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi.
The 21-year-old admitted to the offense and accepted the sanction put by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, with one demerit point added to the opener's disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.
Earlier, Afghanistan created history by registering its second win in the history of the World Cup after beating England by a massive 69-run — also the first time they defeated the mighty English side in 50-over cricket.
Buttler’s men struggled badly on the dead and slow pitch and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, losing all of their batters for 215 runs while chasing
Rashid and Mujeeb took three wickets each, Mohammad Nabi got two, while Farooqi and Naveen picked one.
Batting first, Rahmanullah Gurbaz provided his side a flying start as they were 75-0 in just the first nine overs.
Gurbaz showcased his brilliant batting skills and played a rapid knock, scoring 80 off just 57 balls which included 12 boundaries, eight fours and four sixes.
After Gurbaz’s wicket, Afghanistan lost wickets in quick succession but Ikram Akhil’s 58 and valuable knocks by Rashid (23) and Mujeeb (28) powered Shahidi’s men to a fighting 284-run total.
It must be noted that Afghanistan will now face New Zealand on October 18 in Chennai followed by Pakistan on October 23 at the same venue.