The BCCI has written to the ICC complaining about Pakistan pair Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan and their “provocative” gestures during last Sunday’s Super Fours match in Dubai. The email, sent on Wednesday and acknowledged by the ICC, focuses on Farhan’s half-century celebration and Rauf’s signals to a vocal pocket of India supporters on the midwicket boundary.
Under the ICC code, both players can accept the charge in writing or contest it at a disciplinary hearing. Match referee Richie Richardson would chair any session; Andy Pycroft is serving as the other referee at the tournament.
The story, though, hardly ends there. Officials in Lahore have quietly prepared paperwork of their own, objecting to remarks made by India captain Suryakumar Yadav after the group-stage fixture on 14 September. Suryakumar had dedicated that victory to Indian soldiers and the families affected by April’s Pahalgam terror attack—comments the PCB views as political and therefore out of bounds in what is, at least on paper, a neutral tournament.
“Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all, and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile,” Suryakumar said at the presentation, setting off a fortnight of back-and-forth that local media dubbed “handshake-gate”. Captains declined the customary pre-match greeting that day, and relations since have been frosty.
Sunday’s rematch offered little thaw. Rauf and fellow quick Shaheen Shah Afridi exchanged words with openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill more than once. Television cameras caught several pointed looks and, once, Farhan appearing to blow a kiss towards the India dug-out as he raised his bat.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate tried to play down the flashpoints. “Let me first say, the amount of pressure that’s been heaped on the players because of the situation, it’s very difficult to control your behaviour,” he noted. “I did see some of the things Haris did and that’s not our concern. Like I said earlier, we’re really proud of how the guys carried themselves. They fought fire with their bats on the field. Other teams may have had issues with some of the things we’ve done. But from our side, we’re proud of how the guys have carried themselves.”
A Level 1 or 2 offence—where gestures are judged to have incited spectators—can lead to a fine of up to 50% of match fees and a demerit point. Suspensions are rare at this tier, yet with both boards now involved the ICC will be keen to show it treats each complaint on merit rather than nationality.
For the players, the schedule moves on quickly. Pakistan face Sri Lanka on Thursday; India meet Bangladesh a day later. Off the park, lawyers and administrators will pore over replay angles, player statements and the ICC’s sometimes elastic code of conduct. Most observers hope common sense prevails: hard cricket, yes, but minus the gestures and post-match politics that risk overshadowing it.
