Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi has faced sanction from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for running in the danger area of the pitch during his maiden ODI century in the third ODI of the series against India in Chennai on June 20.
Shahidi has been handed one demerit point for the Level A breach of Article 2.10.10 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel. The violation relates to a "batter causing deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch".
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During his maiden ODI century, the on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Rohan Pandit had warned the left-handed batter twice for running on the pitch. After In the 31st over, he received an official warning. But, the top-order batter continued to commit the offence. In the 40th over, he was found running in the danger area again. It resulted in five penalty runs awarded for India. It meant India started in the run chase of 219 with five runs already on the board.
The charge was levelled by on-field umpires, third umpire Richard Illingworth and fourth umpire Virender Sharma. A formal hearing wasn't needed as Shahidi admitted to the offence and accepted match-referee Ranjan Madugalle's sanction on him. This was the 31-year-old’s first offence. If he gets three more demerit points over the course of next 24 months, he will face suspension and match fee fines as well.
Shahidi’s ton overshadowed by Jaiswal’s unbeaten 110
Shahidi had helped Afghanistan recover from collapse in the first powerplay. From 36/4, Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai shared a 105-run partnership. After Omarzai fell for a 56-ball 50, he shared a 57-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Nabi. But Afghanistan suffered a batting collapse and were bowled out for 218 in 44.2 overs. Shahidi was the last to fall. He scored 102 runs from 131 balls, including 13 fours and a six.
India ended up chasing down the target with nine wickets in hand and 21.2 overs to spare. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma shared a 170-run partnership. Rohit was dismissed for a 69-ball 79. Jaiswal went on to score 110 runs from 86 balls, including 14 fours and three sixes. India won the ODI series 3-0.
Shahidi scripts history
Shahidi became the first Afghanistan captain to score an ODI century against India. Also, he is the second Afghanistan captain to score a century in the format. The previous ODI century was scored by Asghar Afghan. In 2017, he scored 101 runs against Ireland.