COLOMBO: Yashasvi Jaiswal on Sunday brought himself within the ambit of ICC’s Code of Conduct breach while engaging in a tense altercation with Asitha Fernando, during which the Indian opener’s helmet made contact with Sri Lankan pacer’s forehead.
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak thought the incident might have happened in the “heat of the moment” but maintained that Jaiswal should not have made body contact with the opposition player.
“I think they must have said something to him and it might have happened in the heat of the moment. Obviously, Jaiswal, I don't think he should have been so close (to Fernando), but that happens when you are in the heat of the moment,” Kotak said in the post-day press conference.
The fracas took place immediately after Fernando dismissed Jaiswal (45) with a lovely nip-backer in the first session of the second Test here at the SSC ground.
As the left-hander was walking off the ground, Fernando gave him a send-off, prompting Jaiswal to turn back to confront the latter.
Jaiswal’s helmet touched Fernando’s forehead as the two players were seen engaged in a heated verbal battle, before Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva intervened to disperse both the players.
Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk said it’s the duty of match referee, in this case Andy Pycroft, to look into such things.
“The verbals are probably an overflow of emotion. I'll leave that to the match referee to deal with,” he said.
In this case, Pycroft might invoke Article 2.12, which deals with “inappropriate physical contact” with another player during an international match.
If proved Jaiswal is indeed guilty, then the punishment (for a Level 1 offence) could range from an official reprimand to 50% of the match fee and 1 or 2 demerit points.