Indian captain Virat Kohli moved closer to an international ban after being found guilty of an offence during his side’s defeat at the hands of South Africa in Sunday’s third T20I between the two sides.
After the match, Kohli was issued with one demerit point and handed an official warning by match officials for making shoulder contact with South African pace bowler Beuran Hendricks during his innings which was later deemed “inappropriate”.
That constituted a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct, infringing the rules which restrict physical contact between players and members of the other team, match officials or support personnel.
The charges, which were levelled by on-field umpires Nitin Menon and CK Nandan, third umpire Anil Chaudhary and fourth official Chettihody Shamshuddin, relate to an incident which occurred during the fourth ball of the fifth over, when Kohli was at the crease when Shikhar Dhawan. The Indian skipper pulled a ball from Hendricks towards deep midwicket and, in the ensuing run, was deemed to have deliberately rubbed his shoulder against the fast bowler’s, a charge that Kohli later accepted.
That is Kohli’s third offence, since the introduction of the ICC’s revised code in September 2016.
His first came during the Centurion Test in South Africa last January, when, on the third day of the match, he threw the ball to the ground aggressively and loudly complained to on-field umpire Michael Gough about the damp state of the ball. He was subsequently fined 25% of his match fee, and reprimanded for his actions.
His second offence came during the World Cup in England, when India were playing Afghanistan. Again Kohli fell foul of match officials when he was found guilty of excessive appealing and charging towards umpire Aleem Dar in an aggressive manner.
Now Kohli finds himself walking a disciplinary tightrope for the next four months.
Under the ICC rules, Level 1 breaches carry, as a minimum, a penalty of an official reprimand, the deduction of up to 50% of their match fee, and one or two demerit points. In the event that a player reaches four or more demerit points within a two year period, they are automatically converted into suspension points, and they are banned.
If a player gets two suspension points then that translates to a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first. A demerit point remains on a player’s record for 24 months until it is wiped off.
