UAE’s Junaid Siddique has incurred a 25 per cent fine to his match fees along with two demerit points, which have been added to his disciplinary record. The incident involving the fast bowler took place during the third T20I between UAE and New Zealand in Dubai. Siddique was found guilty of breaching the Level 1 of ICC Code of Conduct twice. In the first instance, Siddique flouted article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.” This incident occurred in the fifth over of the New Zealand innings when Siddique moved close to the dismissed batter, Tim Seifert, and shouted aggressively at him. For this, Siddique was handed an official reprimand and one demerit point was added to his disciplinary record.

In the second instance, he was found in violation of article 2.8 of the Code, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”. This happened in the 17th over of the New Zealand innings, when Siddique showed dissent by using inappropriate language towards the umpire after an appeal was turned down. For this, he was fined 25 per cent of his match fee and one more demerit point was added to his disciplinary record. The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Akbar Ali and Shiju Sam, along with third umpire Aasif Iqbal. There was no need for a formal hearing after Siddique admitted to the offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC match referee Andy Pycroft.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)