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The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a warning and one demerit point to the Indian pacer Gurnoor Brar for his aggressive action against the England opener Ben Duckett in the first match of the ongoing 3-match ODI series.
In an official press release on July 16, the ICC informs that Gurnoor Brar's action in the India vs England 1st ODI match in Birmingham was not appropriate for a cricket match.
ICC issues punishment to India pacer Gurnoor Brar for his actions against England batter Ben Duckett
The Council found that the Team India fast bowler has breached Article 2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “throwing a ball at or near a player in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an international match.”
In the 8th over of the first innings of the match, the fast bowler aggressively threw the ball at the England batter, Ben Duckett.
The official press release emerged ahead of the 2nd ODI match between India and England. Team India is currently in the driving seat with the win in the tournament opener. Through an all-round performance across the departments, the Men in Blue dominated the hosts. Apart from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were both dismissed for single-digit runs. England went to bat first and started batting well.
This is how the incident took place in Birmingham.
Ben Duckett looked in good touch, as did his opening partner. The 8th over of the first innings was full of exciting incidents. Duckett, who was batting nicely, first took Gurnoor Brar for big shots.
In the following delivery, after being smashed for a six, the emerging pacer delivered a dot ball. Ben Duckett played the ball with soft hands, and the ball rolled towards the batter. Gurnoor took the ball from the surface and suddenly threw it to the batter, which was an offence.
The on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Mike Burns, third umpire Sam Nogajski, and fourth official Russell Warren levelled the charges of breaching rules against the young fast bowler. The pacer admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing, as stated in the ICC press release.
Gurnoor Brar dismissed Ben Duckett.
Later in the match, it was the Indian pacer who concluded the short-lived one-on-one contest by taking the England opener's wicket. The wicket proved crucial for the match as England lost a series of wickets as soon as Duckett departed. In the same over, Gurnoor dismissed the other opener, Jacob Bethell, as well.
With two back-to-back blows, the Three Lions went on the back foot, and India took the driving seat and remained in the driving seat till the end of the match. India won the match by 6 wickets with Axar Patel as the Player of the Match. India holds a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series.
