The Indian team may have to play without their captain in the semi-final of the ongoing world cup. Skipper Virat Kohli is staring at a possible suspension after an animated argument with onfield umpire Marais Erasmus of South Africa during the clash against Bangladesh on 2nd July in Birmingham. India managed to pip the Bangla tigers by 28 runs to qualify for the semi-finals but the news of Virat’s suspension has left the fans sweating.
The 30-year-old lost his cool when a DRS decision was overturned by the third umpire after which Kohli was seen having arguments with Erasmus. It happened in the 12th over of the second innings when Mohammed Shami was operating from Birmingham end. The ball hit the leg guard of Bangladeshi opener Soumya Sarkar after which the onfield umpires judged him not out. Not convinced with the verdict, the Indian skipper went upstairs and challenged the decision.
The DRS showed the ball had hit Soumya’s bat and pad simultaneously which prompted the third umpire- Aleem Dar to stick with the onfield decision and India lost their review. A fumed up Kohli walked to the umpire and argued with him assuming that the ball had hit the pad first.
Earlier, in the game against Afghanistan- Virat Kohli was fined by ICC for excessive appealing and was fined 25 percent match fees. He also got a demerit point for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct. The Indian skipper has breached Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. He also breached Article 2.1 subsection of Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. This violation is linked to “Excessive appealing during an International Match”.
Now, Kohli has two demerit points as he received one during the Test match against South Africa on January 15, 2018.
Punishment after breaching level 1
Level 1 breach holds a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of the player’s match fee and one or two demerit points, depending on the level of breach.
If a player receives four demerit points within the span of two years, it gets converted to suspension points and the player gets banned. Two suspension points lead to a ban from one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is for the player, whichever is scheduled first.
The demerit points stay on record with the ICC for a period of two years before getting deleted from the record. The demerit points he received in the test against South Africa will be deleted from the record on January 15, 2020 and the demerit points he received in the game against Afghanistan will be deleted on June 27, 2021.
What’s next for Kohli
It is unlikely that Kohli will face the harsh punishment but if he fails to check his emotions in the game against Sri Lanka then he will end up watching the semi-finals from the bench.
