Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen join former South African captain Graeme Smith in questioning the International Cricket Council for handing a one-match suspension to star pacer Kagiso Rabada.
Former South Africa Graeme Smith has lashed out at the ICC Code of conduct after pacer Kagiso Rabada was handed a one-match suspension for giving England all-rounder Ben Stokes a controversial send-off in the ongoing Lord's Test.
During the opening day's play on Thursday, Rabada was found guilty of breaching article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Player and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match'.
The right-arm pacer was fined 15 percent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for this incident, in which he told Stokes to "f**k ***" after dismissing him for 56 during England's first innings.
"It's ridiculous. No-one wrote about it, no-one spoke about it. It was only because it was on the stump mic that it's become a thing," Smith was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "It could have been handled better. I don't think it was aimed at Ben Stokes. I just think it was out of frustration. If it wasn't picked up by the stump mics he wouldn't have been done," he added.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan also criticised the ICC's decision to suspend Rabada for the Trent Bridge Test. "Rababa Suspended for 1 match for a couple of Words ..... Give me a break ... what about the continuous slow over rates @icc !?????????," Vaughan tweeted.
Along with Vaughan, another former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen came out strongly in Rabada's support too. "A DYING global Test game & the @ICC suspend a player for a naughty word! Rabada is a STAR! More stars OUT the game damages the game," reasoned KP. When asked by a Twitter user if there should be line though, Pietersen added, "Mate - I played over 100 Test matches. The F-word features heavily all day, EVERY day! Suspension is f*****g silly."
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