PSL 2022: Ben Cutting and Sohail Tanvir fined 15% of match fee for using obscene gestures on field

A day after Ben Cutting and Sohail Tanvir were involved in a heated exchange during a group match between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL), both Cutting and Tanvir have been fined 15% of their match fees for using a gesture that was obscene, offensive or insulting.

The incident occurred in the second last over of Zalmi’s inning when Cutting, after smashing Tanvir for three consecutive sixes, made inappropriate gestures using his fingers, while the bowler seemed to laugh it off. However, Tanvir also made a similar gesture after catching Cutting off Naseem Shah on the first ball of the final over.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in an official statement said, “Ben Cutting of Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators’ Sohail Tanvir have both been fined 15% of their match fees for breaching a Level 1 offense of the HBL PSL code of conduct in separate incidents during their side’s match in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2022.”

“Both the players were found to have violated Article 2.6 of the HBL PSL code of conduct for players and player support personnel, which relates to ‘using a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during a PSL match,” the statement added.

No formal hearing after both players pled guilty  

As both Cutting and Tanvir pled guilty to the offenses and accepted the sanctions proposed to be imposed by match referee Ali Naqvi, no formal hearing about the incident was conducted.

The statement also quoted Naqvi saying: “Such type of inappropriate gestures have no space in this great sport. The players need to always understand and remember their on and off the field responsibilities as they are role models and behaviour like this sends out a wrong message to the younger generation of cricketers.”

“The HBL PSL 2022 is being played in good, positive spirits and I would like to see the players continue to fight hard inside the field of play but at the same time to remain within the parameters of the spirit of the game,” he added.