Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Indian skipper Vijay Zol for one match and reprimanded off spinner Aamir Gani for their unsporting gestures on the field during their ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup quarter final match against England at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Following the increasing trend among some of the senior players, who has made it a fashion nowadays to hurl expletives at batsmen after gaining a breakthrough, Zol and Gani did the same. From lip-reading and aggressive expression, many senior cricketers are often known to foul mouth batsmen, but they have gone unpunished in international matches.
Zol, who should have acted as the model of exemplary behaviour as captain, used abusive language at the batsman — which was shown as close-up in television — after catching England’s Ben Duckett at short midwicket off Kuldeep Yadav.
Earlier, in the 24th over, Gani too was seen shouting obscene language after having Ed Barnard caught by Sanju Samson in the 26th over. Instead of lauding Samson for the brilliant catch, Gani expressed his delight in a manner that will put the game and him to shame.
The ICC’s prompt action should be lauded as parents of most players are watching the game from different parts of the world and to see youngsters behaving in such manner is a shame. Graeme La Brooy of the ICC Regional Referees Panel imposed the sanctions after both the players pleaded to the guilty to the offences and accepted the proposed sanctions.
