Team India is in big trouble after a shocking fight broke out on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, after getting dismissed by Sri Lankan fast bowler Asitha Fernando, turned back instead of walking to the pavilion. The 24-year-old left-hander, who had also sledged wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella in the first Test, locked eyes with Asitha Fernando, walked aggressively towards him, and in front of all the Sri Lankan players, appeared to push his helmet right onto Asitha Fernando’s forehead. The players had to be separated.
India finished the day at 300 for 5 wickets on Sunday but the incident became the main talking point.
Sitanshu Kotak, batting coach of India, defended Yashasvi Jaiswal after the day’s play. He said that the whole thing happened because of emotions in the moment and that there was some provocation from the Sri Lankan side. He also admitted that Yashasvi Jaiswal should not have gone that close to the bowler.
On the other side, Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk did not say much about the fight. He avoided the question and said that such emotional outbursts happen and it is now up to the match referee Andy Pycroft to take a decision.
Now the ICC will decide Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fate. They have to decide if his action was a ‘physical assault’. Under ICC rules, physical assault and violence during a match are Level 4 offences, which is the most serious category of bad behaviour.
There are two rules for this. Article 2.18 is for physically assaulting a player, support staff, umpire, referee, spectator or anyone else and causing injury. Article 2.19 is for acts of violence on the field like kicking, punching or fighting. Both these rules only come under Level 4, not under Level 1, 2 or 3. The punishment for a Level 4 offence is very big – from a ban of at least five Test matches or 10 ODIs to even a life ban, depending on how serious it is.
However, if the match referee feels it was just ‘inappropriate physical contact’ and not a full assault, then Yashasvi Jaiswal will get only a Level 1 punishment. That would be much smaller – from just an official warning to a fine of 50% of his match fee and 1 or 2 demerit points.
What do you think will happen?
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