The International Cricket Council on Tuesday suspended Pakistani cricketer Haris Rauf for two matches for violating the code of conduct during the Asia Cup tournament held in September.

In the last week of September, the sport’s governing body had heard complaints filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Pakistan Cricket Board against each other’s players.

The two teams played three matches during the tournament.

For the match on September 14, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav was fined 30% of his fee and received two demerit points after being found guilty of a breach of Article 2.21 of the Code of Conduct. The provision pertains to conduct that brings the game into disrepute.

For the match on September 21, Indian player Arshdeep Singh was found not guilty of an alleged breach of Article 2.6, which pertains to using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting. Therefore, no sanction was imposed, the ICC said.

The sport’s governing body said that Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah had accepted a charge under Article 2.21 and the proposed sanction of an official warning. This was related to the tournament’s final match on September 28.

Bumrah was also given one demerit point. No formal hearing was required as he had accepted the sanction.

For the September 14 match, Pakistani player Sahibzada Farhan was found guilty of a breach of Article 2.21 and was issued a warning with one demerit point.

For the same match, Rauf was also found guilty of the same offence and was fined 30% of his match fee. This resulted in two demerit points.

Rauf was again found guilty of a breach of Article 2.21 for the match on September 28. He was again fined 30% of his match fee and received two additional demerit points.

This took Rauf’s total demerit points within a 24-month period to four, resulting in two suspension points under the disciplinary framework. Therefore, Rauf has been suspended for Pakistan’s One Day International matches against South Africa scheduled for November 4 and November 6.

The sanction was imposed following a hearing by Match Referee Richie Richardson.

The demerit points remain on a player’s disciplinary record for two years before they are expunged.

BCCI and PCB’s complaints

The Pakistan Cricket Board had filed a complaint against Indian men’s team captain Yadav for his comments during a press conference after the two sides’ Asia Cup group stage match on September 14.

Yadav had expressed his solidarity with those who died in the Pahalgam terror attack in April and dedicated the Indian team’s victory against Pakistan that day to the Indian military.

PTI had reported at the time that the Pakistani board had alleged that Yadav’s comment was “political”.

The BCCI filed a complaint against Rauf and Farhan for their allegedly provocative gestures during the Super 4 stage match on September 21.

During the match, Farhan celebrated his half-century with a gun-firing gesture, using his bat as a gun prop.

After the match, he told reporters: “That celebration was just a moment at that time. I do not do a lot of celebrations after scoring 50. But, it suddenly came to my mind that let’s do a celebration today. I did that. I don’t know how people will take it. I don’t care about that.”

During the same match, Rauf made gestures to depict the bringing down of aircraft.

The gesture was an apparent reference to claims by the Pakistani military that it had shot down Indian aircraft on May 7, when the four-day conflict between the two countries began. The claims made by Islamabad have not been independently verified.

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