Pakistan captain slapped with one-match ban by ICC

Pakistan ODI skipper Azhar Ali has been suspended for one match and fined 40 per cent of his match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate during the fifth and final ODI match against Australia at Adelaide. Jeff Crowe of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the suspension on Azhar after Pakistan was ruled to be two overs short of its target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

In accordance with Article 2.5.1 and Appendix 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel, which deals with minor over-rate offenses, players are fined 10 percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.

The skipper of the sub-continental side had previously been found guilty of a minor over-rate offense during an ODI against New Zealand in Auckland on 31 January 2016, this offense constituted his second minor over-rate offense within a 12-month period which leads to a suspension.

The suspension will result in Azhar missing his side’s next ODI, which is currently scheduled to be against the West Indies in April 2017.

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The charge was laid by on-field umpires Simon Fry and Chettithody Shamshuddin, third umpire Chris Gaffaney, and fourth official Sam Nogajski.

Reports in Pakistan suggested Azhar would be removed from his post by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), with T20 skipper Sarfraz Ahmed set to take over the charge. Sarfraz is also seen as a likely successor when Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq calls time on his decorated career.

Misbah wrote in his cricket.com.au column he would play the Pakistan Super League before coming to a decision on his Test future. “There have been a lot of questions about my retirement but at the moment I have taken a time-out. That’s why I have not made any decision about it,” Misbah wrote.