Pakistan's Sidra Ameen reprimanded for ICC Code of Conduct abuse

Pakistan Women cricket team batter, Sidra Amin, has been reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup match against India Women in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Sidra was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match.”

In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to her disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.

The incident occurred when Sidra forcefully hit her bat onto the pitch after being dismissed in the 40th over against the India team.

Sidra admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Shandré Fritz of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

On-field umpires Lauren Agenbag and Nimali Perera, third umpire Kerrin Klaaste and fourth umpire Kim Cotton levelled the charge.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.

We need to express ourselves: Fatima Sana

Apart from Amin's fine, the bigger heartbreak for Pakistan was the loss against the arch-rivals India. Skipper Fatima Sana was of the opinion that her bowlers gave away too many runs while the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side batted first, as they were able to post 247 runs on the board after an all-round batting display by the entire unit. Fatima further noted that the team needs to express itself ahead of the upcoming games in the quadrennial event.

“We gave a lot of runs in the powerplay, extras too. That was the case in the death too. I felt we needed to restrict them under 200. (Thinking about changes for today) We decided to go with specialist batters in the top-five, they need to step up. We need to express ourselves, long partnerships, assess and adapt to conditions. Amin is hard-working, hope she'll continue to do well,” she said in the post-match presentation.