Mustafizur and Dhoni found guilty of breaching ICC Code of Conduct

The two players were found to have breached Article 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between Players in the course of play during an International Match”.

Both the players pleaded not guilty to the charge and as such, a hearing was held on Friday morning by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees in which television footage was used. Apart from the match officials, both the players and their managers attended the hearing.

The incident happened in the 25th over when Dhoni made a physical contact with debutant Mustafizur Rahman while running a single. Following the contact, the left-arm fast bowler left the field and Nasir Hossain bowled the remaining four deliveries to complete the over.

Explaining his decision, Pycroft said: “In the hearing, Dhoni defended the charge on the basis that the bowler was on the wrong line and realising that he couldn’t avoid the collision, he used his hand and arm to push him away as he went through to ‘minimise the impact’."

“However, my assessment was that Dhoni deliberately pushed and shouldered Mustafizur, which was inappropriate. Even if there was a narrow gap between the runner (Suresh Raina) and the bowler, an experienced Dhoni should have tried to avoid the collision as cricket is a non-contact sport and the players are expected to avoid physical contact at all times. On this basis, I fined Dhoni 75 per cent of his match fee," he said.

Having initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, upon being faced with the evidence during the hearing and upon questioning, Mustafizur admitted his guilt and accepted the proposed sanction.

Pycroft said, “Mustafizur was fined 50 per cent of his match fee after he admitted that that his actions in not getting out of the batsman’s way were inappropriate and he should have done more to avoid the contact.”

The charge had been laid by the on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Enamul Haque, as well as third umpire Anisur Rahman and fourth umpire Masudur Rahman.

All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a minimum fine of 50 per cent of applicable Match Fee and/or up to two (2) Suspension Points.