Brisbane: India paceman Ishant Sharma has been found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Brisbane Test, the ICC said on Sunday.
Sharma was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for violating a section of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to “language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match.”
Sharma was seen on the television broadcast using inappropriate words after dismissing Steven Smith in Australia’s first innings.
Sharma admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee, the ICC said.
Meanwhile, Australia were also fined for maintaining a slow over rate.
As punishment new skipper Smith was fined 60 per cent of his match fee for his team’s slow over rate in the Test, which Australia won by four wickets on Saturday.
Match referee Jeff Crowe imposed the fine after Smith’s side was ruled to be three overs short of its target when time allowances were taken into consideration.
In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct relating to minor overrate offences, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.
The other Australia players received 30 per cent fines of their match fees.
The ICC said if Smith was found guilty of one more minor overrate offence as captain in Tests over the next 12 months, he will receive a one-match suspension as per the provisions of the Code.
All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee.
It is the second Test match in the current Border-Gavaskar series that has led to code of conduct sanctions.
Australia’s David Warner and India duo Shikhar Dhawan and stand-in skipper Virat Kohli were found guilty of breaching the ICC code of conduct and handed fines for bust-ups during the stormy first Adelaide Test.
Warner and Dhawan were fined 15 and 30 per cent of their match fees respectively for their roles in a confrontation, while Kohli was also fined 30 per cent of his match fee for his involvement in a separate incident shortly before the close of play on the fourth day.
