The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (September 25) has officially approved the complaints from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for his comments after the India-Pakistan match on September 14. The allegations against Suryakumar involve 'making inappropriate comments that bring the game into disrepute' and the 35-year-old has been accused of making provocative statements that are said to have the potential to harm the image of the sport.
Suryakumar had dedicated India's win over Pakistan in the league stages to the Indian armed forces and victims of Pahalgam terror attack. The incident kick-started a series of dramatic episodes with the Pakistan team over the last 10 days.
Richie Richardson, who has been officiating most of Pakistan's games in the Asia Cup except the India fixtures, has been intimated by the ICC to look into the PCB's complaints on Suryakumar. Richardson has already sent an e-mail to the Indian team management informing them of this development. Should Suryakumar accept the charges, he will be liable to punishment but he also has the option of challenging the allegations by appearing for a hearing that will involve Richardson and the representatives of PCB and BCCI.
Going by the trends so far, the second scenario is likely to play out as Suryakumar is unlikely to accept the charges against him. The league fixture against Pakistan made headlines as India's players refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts, both before and after the game.
Suryakumar, who hit the winning runs in the game, promptly walked off with his batting partner Shivam Dube. The pair didn't wait to shake hands with the Pakistan players or umpires, and dashed off to the dressing room. Later on, Suryakumar revealed the reason behind his actions at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Perfect occasion, taking the time out, we stand by the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity... Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery,” said the Suryakumar in a chat with Sanjay Manjrekar.
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PCB have accused the Indian captain of making politically provocative statements and if Suryakumar isn't able to justify himself at the hearing, disciplinary sanctions are inevitable. Meanwhile, Pakistan face Bangladesh in a virtual knockout game on September 25 with the winner set to play India in the final on September 28. It means that a third India-Pakistan clash is in the offing and amidst all this drama, that could be one heated battle.