Dhoni, Mustafizur fined over shoving incident

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman were on Friday fined 75 and 50 <g data-gr-id="21">per cent</g> of their match fees respectively after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the first One-Day International here.

The two players were found to have breached Article 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an International Match” on Thursday. Both the players pleaded not guilty to the charge and as such, a hearing was held on Friday by match referee Andy Pycroft in which television footage was used. Apart from the match officials, both the players and their managers attended the hearing.

The incident happened in the 25th over of India innings when Dhoni made physical contact with debutant Mustafizur Rahman while running a single. Following the contact, the left-arm fast bowler left the field and Nasir Hossain bowled the remaining four deliveries to complete the over.

Pycroft said: “In the hearing, Dhoni defended the charge on the basis that the bowler was on the wrong line and realising that he couldn’t avoid the collision, he used his hand and arm to push him away as he went through to ‘minimise the impact’.

“However, my assessment was that Dhoni deliberately pushed and shouldered Mustafizur, which was inappropriate. Even if there was a narrow gap between the runner (Suresh Raina) and the bowler, an experienced Dhoni should have tried to avoid the collision as cricket is a non-contact sport and the players are expected to avoid physical contact at all times. On this basis, I <g data-gr-id="29">fined</g> Dhoni 75 <g data-gr-id="30">per cent</g> of his match fee.”

Having initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, upon being faced with the evidence during the hearing and upon questioning, Mustafizur admitted his guilt and accepted the proposed sanction.

Pycroft said, “Mustafizur was fined 50 <g data-gr-id="26">per cent</g> of his match fee after he admitted that that his actions in not getting out of the batsman’s way were inappropriate and he should have done more to avoid the contact.”