After 'Shameless' Act, ICC Punishes Afridi And Co. For Doing This To SA

Pakistan notched a memorable win against South Africa in Karachi on Wednesday. Chasing a humongous target of 353, Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha played two memorable innings of 122 and 134 ad Pakistan win with one over to spare. However, those were not the only aspects of the match which had everyone's focus. In the first innings, several Pakistan players like Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel and substitute fielder Kamran Ghulam celebrated aggressively against South African batters. 

The acts were termed as 'shameless' by social media users.

Shaheen shah Afridi is so immature even after playing international cricket for almost 5 years. pic.twitter.com/YzemYxn6Hb — Cricket stan (@Cricobserver21) February 12, 2025

This kind of behaviour and that too against THE TEMBA BAVUMA?

What kind of shameless you guys are PCT?
pic.twitter.com/7RvsBRobCQ — TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) February 12, 2025

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken note of the acts and punished the trio. "ICC has imposed fines on the three players for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their tri-nation series match against South Africa in Karachi on Wednesday," the ICC said in a release.

"Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was fined 25 per cent of his match fee for breaching Article 2.12 of the Code, which pertains to "inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match."

The incident occurred in the 28th over of South Africa's innings when Shaheen deliberately obstructed batter Matthew Breetzke as he ran a single, resulting in physical contact and a heated exchange between the two players.

In another incident, Saud Shakeel and substitute fielder Kamran Ghulam were fined 10 percent of their match fees for celebrating too closely to batter Temba Bavuma following his run-out in the 29th over.

"Both players were found guilty of breaching Article 2.5 of the Code, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match," the ICC said.

In addition to the financial penalties, all three players have received one demerit point each on their disciplinary records. None of the players had any prior offences in the last 24 months.

All players have accepted the sanctions imposed and there will be no formal hearings regarding the incidents.