Imran Tahir reprimanded for breach of clothing code

South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir has reportedly been reprimanded for showing a personal message during the 2nd T20I against Sri Lanka. He was reprimanded as he showed a personal message on his sporting gear without taking any prior permission from his team management or the International Cricket Council (ICC). During the match, Tahir celebrated in his trademark style and in the process also marked his respect for Islamic preacher Junaid Jamshed.

The incident took place when Imran Tahir got the wicket of Sri Lanka batsman Asela Gunaratne. Soon after he got the wicket, the leggie celebrated as he usually does. But in addition to that, he rolled his jersey over to show the inner skinned jersey that a photo of Junaid Jamshed. Junaid was recently killed in a plane crash in Pakistan. According to the reports on ptvcricket.tv, Tahir and Hashim Amla were very good friends of Jamshed.

Although his celebration was widely acknowledged by many of the cricket fans, the celebration violated the rules of the ICC. The rule that was breached was in relation to ICC Clothing and Equipment Rules and Regulations. According to the ICC guidelines, it states,

“Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment (“Personal Messages”) unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s Board and the ICC Cricket Operations Department. Approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes”.

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Imran Tahir accepted his breaching of the law and thereby no further official hearing was needed for the case. Talking about the match, South Africa lost the low scoring match by 3 wickets. Sri Lanka were set a target of 113. It was Angelo Mathews half century that guided the visitors to their first win on the tour.