West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran has been suspended by the ICC for ‘changing the condition of the ball’. He will miss the next 4 T20I games for the Windies including the series against Afghanistan & the first game against India.
Pooran was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct, with his offence being a Level 3 breach. Five demerit points have also been added to his record. He was caught on tape scratching the ball with his thumbnail during the third ODI against Afghanistan in Lucknow on Monday. On-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani, along with third umpire Ahmed Pakteen and fourth umpire Izatullah Safi, levelled the charges on Pooran, who admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad.
He said, “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 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 won the three-match ODI series 3-0 and will now take on Afghanistan in three T20I and a Test from Thursday.
