Ravi Shastri,
the former India allrounder and IPL governing council member, has
warned that a repeat of altercations such as the one involving Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc could result in much stiffer penalties for the players, including "double" their match fee or even a ban.
"They should be given a fine and then a stern warning stating that (if)
once more then it could be double the penalty and even a match ban,"
Shastri told ESPNcricinfo. When asked whether increasing monetary
sanctions alone could prevent a breach of the IPL's rules, Shastri
remained confident. "It could. It is in the hands of the match referee.
But I would tell the player that next time if you even come close (to a
breach) you will face serious consequences."
Shastri provided the example of the "stiff" $50,000 fine imposed on then Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne
during the 2011 IPL for breaching the playing contract. Warne had
allegedly verbally abused the then Rajasthan Cricket Association
secretary Sanjay Dixit, and a disciplinary panel comprising former IPL
chairman Chirayu Amin and Shastri imposed the penalty. "The penalties
can be pretty stiff. We penalised Warne an amount which amounted to his
match fee for a match. He was on a $700,000 contract with Rajasthan
Royals. Tell me one player who has been fined $50,000 anywhere."
Shastri, who also sits on the IPL's code of behaviour committee and the
technical committee, said that no advisory has been issued to match
referees in light of the Pollard-Starc incident since the officials were
aware of the rules. "That is the match referee's jurisdiction. Only
after they take a decision do we have a right to comment."
The IPL's handling of the incident has once again reopened the debate
about whether slow over-rates are more important to the league than bad
behaviour and attract more fines because of the impact on TV
programming. Shastri rubbished the notion and said that the IPL had set a
better example than anybody else, including the ICC, when it came to
penalising tardy over-rates. "Slow over-rates slow the pace of the game
and captains are appropriately fined. No other cricket body in the world
takes so strong (an action) as the IPL. Even the ICC can take a leaf
out of the IPL."
Shastri had earlier expressed his annoyance at Pollard and Starc's behavior in his Times of India
column. "This one went beyond bad behavior," Shastri wrote. "You can
joust, tease, stare, have a spat, give a send-off and all that can still
be tolerated, but you can't almost come to blows. It bordered on
violence, luckily without anything untoward happening. Both aimed to
hurt each other with bat and ball. The faults by both are many -
disrespect to umpires, abuse of equipment, utter disregard for the name
of their employers, contempt for sponsors and injuring the spirit of the
game itself.
"Starc likes to provoke. We all watched him give a mouthful to Virender
Sehwag after his short ball had rammed the opener on the helmet and gone
to the fence. Even that is tolerable in small doses. Pollard was
nothing if not physical. Both need to be spoken to with a stern warning
and not just a fine."
The altercation began with an exchange of words after Starc bowled a
bouncer to Pollard in the 17th over of Mumbai Indians' innings against
Royal Challengers Bangalore. Pollard pulled away as Starc ran in for the
next delivery, but the bowler continued and bowled the ball at
Pollard's body. In response, Pollard threatened to throw his bat at
Starc, but it fell close to the batsman. Andy Pycroft, the match
referee, fined Pollard 75% and Starc 50% of their match fees.
The bad behaviour in the match, Shastri wrote, wasn't just confined to Pollard and Starc.
"In the same game, [Yuzvendra] Chahal was also involved in a pronounced
send-off to the batsman he dismissed," Shastri wrote. "It was Chahal's
good luck that Yuvraj Singh was at hand to humour the offended on-field
umpires. Mostly it's the bowlers who are stepping out of line.
"All the stakeholders must clamp down on such behaviour. It doesn't
improve you as a cricketer much less as a human being. It's been a
splendid IPL so far and it deserves better from its performers."
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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