Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies batsman, has been handed a four-match suspension by the International Cricket Council for ‘changing the condition of the ball’. Five demerit points have also been added to the record of the 24-year-old, who was caught on tape scratching the ball with his thumbnail during the third ODI against Afghanistan in Lucknow on Monday (November 11), and he will miss the next four T20I games for West Indies.
Pooran was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct, with his offense being a Level 3 breach, and was handed four suspension points. The minimum penalty for a Level 3 breach is four suspension points, which translates into five demerit points for the player involved. Four suspension points equates to a ban of two Test matches or four ODI/T20I matches, whichever is earlier.
In Pooran’s case, the next international assignment for West Indies in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which Pooran won’t be a part of, while he’ll also miss the first T20I of the three-match series against India.
On-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani, along with third umpire Ahmed Pakteen and fourth umpire Izatullah Safi, leveled the charges on Pooran, who admitted the offense and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad.
“I want to issue a sincere apology to my teammates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow. I recognize that I made an extreme error in judgment and I fully accept the ICC penalty. I want to assure everyone that this is an isolated incident and it will not be repeated. I promise to learn from this and come back stronger and wiser,” said Pooran.
