Afghanistan pacer Fareed Ahmad and Pakistan batter Asif Ali were involved in a physical altercation during the Asia Cup clash between the two sides on September 7.
The incident happened in the penultimate over of the second innings when Fareed dismissed Ali, leaving the Afghans one wicket away from victory. He then proceeded to celebrate in the batter’s face, with Asif responding by shoving the bowler. Fareed did not back out, after which Asif almost swung his bat at him.
“Asif breached Article 2.6 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International Match” while Fareed was found to have breached Article 2.1.12, which relates to “inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match,”
the ICC statement said.
The match had an intense finish, and the emotions ran high from both the parties. Asif had smashed 16 runs off just seven balls and threatened to take the game away from the opposition. Fareed then bowled a slow ball bouncer, which brought a top edge from Asif, with Karim Janat taking a good catch running backwards at a short fine leg.
When Asif was dismissed, the equation for Pakistan was 11 needed off 6 with one wicket in hand. Pakistan won the match in a dramatic fashion, with Naseem Shah hitting two back-to-back sixes on the first two balls.
The crowd trouble followed as Afghanistan fans vandalised the stadium and were involved in physical fights with Pakistan supporters. Several fans were detained by the police while the PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said the board would request the ICC to lodge a protest.
