Babar Azam fined for misconduct in SL ODI: Details here
What's the story
Pakistan's star batter, Babar Azam, has been fined 10% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct. The incident occurred during the 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka on November 16 in Rawalpindi. Babar was found guilty of violating Article 2.2 of the ICC Code, which deals with "abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match."
Incident specifics
Incident details and admission
The breach occurred in the 21st over of Pakistan's innings when Babar deliberately hit the stumps with his bat upon being dismissed. On-field umpires Alex Wharf and Rashid Riaz, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, and fourth umpire Faisal Afridi charged him with the offense. Ali Naqvi from Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees proposed the sanction, which Babar accepted without contesting it at a formal hearing.
Series contribution
Babar's performance in the ODI series
Despite the penalty, Babar had a decent performance in the ODI series against Sri Lanka compared to his recent run. He scored a total of 165 runs, including his first century across formats in 83 innings after a gap of over 800 days. His contribution was instrumental in Pakistan winning the three-match series with a clean sweep of 3-0 over Sri Lanka.
Information
Joint-most ODI tons for Pakistan
Babar will now be looking to carry his form into the upcoming matches. He now has the joint-most centuries for Pakistan in ODIs (20) with Saeed Anwar. In 140 ODIs, the Pakistan batter has 6,501 runs at an average of 53.72.