Ali Khan suspended for next two USA matches after collecting fourth demerit point

USA speedster Ali Khan will miss his country’s next two international matches after being penalised for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off match in Windhoek on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old received one demerit point for breaching Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.” 

As a result, the speedster has reached the threshold of four demerit points which, the ICC states, ‘have been converted into two suspension points pursuant to article 7.6 of the Code’. Khan already previously accumulated three demerit points for two separate incidents during a T20I against Bermuda in November 2021.

Two other players, Khan’s USA teammate Jasdeep Singh and Jersey’s Elliot Miles have also been penalised for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct in the same encounter.

While Singh has been fined 30 percent of his match fee and handed two demerit points after he was found to have breached Article 2.12 of the Code (which relates to ‘inappropriate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) during an International Match’), Miles has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point after he was found to have breached Article 2.3 of the Code (which relates to “use of an audible obscenity during an International Match).

Unlike Ali Khan, though, Singh and Miles have not had any other offences in the previous 24-month period.