Ishant fined for breaching Code of Conduct

Ishant Sharma has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct on the third day of the Delhi Test, won by India who completed a sweep of the four-match series. Ishant, who admitted to the charge and accepted the penalty, was found to have breached Level, Article 2.1.6 of the ICC Code of Conduct, "which relates to pointing or gesturing towards the pavilion by a bowler or a fielder upon the dismissal of a batsman in an International Match."

The incident occurred in the 45th over, immediately after Ishant dismissed James Pattinson. Ishant "repeatedly gestured towards the pavilion while in his follow through," an ICC release stated. "Ishant's reaction after dismissing James Pattinson was inappropriate and clearly in breach of the Code. I'm sure Ishant will learn from this incident and ensure such actions are not be repeated in the future," the ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle said.

Player behaviour has been under scrutiny in this Test match. On the second day, Australia opener David Warner was involved in a verbal altercation with Ravindra Jadeja, who asked the umpires to intervene and they subsequently called on captain Shane Watson to speak to Warner. Warner had reacted, seemingly, in response to the Indian batsmen running through the middle of the pitch while going for a couple. MS Dhoni was also batting at the time, the incident having occurred after the second ball of the 51st over in India's innings.

Dhoni, at the end of the game, said the issue was dealt with well by the umpires, but added, "The schoolboys [younger players] just graduated into college for a while.

"One thing I always tell the match referee is that whichever team starts it, I think the other team has an equal right to give it back to them. And then you should stop it, saying, "no more, now both sides need to be disciplined.""

If the umpires stopped one side from retaliating "at that point in time", he said, "the individuals in that side just keep it on, keep it on…and sometimes, just blow it out on the opposition, that's the time when people get fined and disciplinary action gets taken."