West Indies’ Nicolas Pooran slapped with four-match suspension for ‘changing condition of ball’

Published on: Nov 13, 2019

West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Nicolas Pooran has been handed a four-match suspension by the ICC after admitting to ‘changing the condition of the ball’ during the third ODI against Afghanistan played at Lucknow on Monday. Pooran will miss the next four T20Is for the West Indies and five demerit points will also be added against his name.

After video footage emerged, showing him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail, Pooran was charged with violating Article 2.14 of the code that relates to ‘changing the condition of the ball’

Pooran accepted the sanctions by Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, after he was found breaching Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. He even issued a public apology for his offence.

The charge was placed against Pooran by on-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani, third umpire Ahmed Pakteen as well as fourth umpire Izatullah Safi.

As per ICC rules, a breach of Level 3 carries a minimum penalty of four suspension points which equates to five demerit points plus a ban of two Test matches or four ODI / T20I matches. The maximum penalty for breach of the Level is 12 suspension points which translates to 6 demerit points.

Issuing an apology for his misdeeds, Pooran said, “I want to issue a sincere apology to my team-mates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow. I recognise that I made an extreme error in judgement 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.”

West Indies clinched the 3-match series 3-0 by winning the final ODI at Lucknow by five wickets. Windies chased down a target of exactly 250 thanks to an unbeaten century from Shai Hope.

--Renin Wilben Albert

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