ICC takes action against Pakistan as Sri Lanka players request to leave the country after suicide bombing

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has penalized the Pakistan National Cricket Team for maintaining a slow overrate in the first ODI of the tri-nation series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.

This punishment for the Pakistan National Cricket Team comes after the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team players expressed their desire to leave the country following a scary suicide bombing in Islamabad.

Pakistan penalized 20% of their match fee

On Tuesday, November 11, the Pakistan National Cricket Team and the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team clashed in the first ODI of the tri-nation at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday, November 11.

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Both teams battled really hard out in the middle, but in the end, it was the home team that finished on the winning side. The Men In Green clinched a 6-run win in the match, and Salman Agha won the Player of the Match award for his sensational century.

However, after the match, Pakistan faced massive trouble as a suicide bombing incident happened in Islamabad, which left the Sri Lankan players extremely terrified, and they asked to leave the nation.

However, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) threatened players and support staff with "a formal review" if they left the tour over security concerns. Later, the decision was made that the Lankan players would continue the tour, and their security was beefed up.

Pakistan penalised for slow over-rate

After sorting out the matter with Sri Lanka, Pakistan faced another setback as the ICC punished the national team for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first ODI against Sri Lanka.

They have been fined 20 per cent of their match fee, and a sanction was imposed by Ali Naqvi of the Emirates ICC Panel of Match Referees after the Shaheen Afridi-led side was ruled to be four overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

"In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. The charge was levied by on-field umpires Alex Wharf and Asif Yaqoob, third umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, and fourth umpire Rashid Riaz. Pakistan captain Shaheen Afridi accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing," PCB stated.

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Credit goes to Salman Agha and Hussain Talat for the way they batted - Shaheen Afridi

Speaking after the end of the first ODI, Shaheen Afridi lauded Salman Agha and Hussain Talat for their heroics and gave a shoutout to Haris Rauf for his heroics with the ball. He stated:

"Credit goes to Salman Agha and Hussain Talat for the way they batted and getting us 300 on the board. The percentage of dot balls in the first 10 overs with the bat were very high. We were looking for 250-260 with the kind of start we got, credit goes to Haris Rauf for the way he bowled today. Really enjoyed that spell. Haris has been the wicket-taker for us in white-ball cricket for a long time now. That was an awesome catch (from Babar Azam)."

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka said that they lost some quick wickets in the middle overs, which led to their downfall. He said:

"The start was phenomenal. I still feel we could have restricted them to around 260-270. We lost wickets in that middle period including me and we made a few bad decisions. We all know that he is a superstar (Hasaranga) with the ball, and today he played to his full potential with the bat. Hope he continues this form."