India’s left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday for hurling the ball at New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell in the T20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. The 27-year-old has been docked 15 per cent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Moreover, one demerit point was added to his disciplinary record, which was his first offence in a 24-month period.
According to the official rulebook, the pacer from Punjab breached Article 2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment) at or near a player in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match.”
Arshdeep accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Alex Wharf, third umpire Allahuddien Paleker, and fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock levelled the charge on the speedster.
Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
Speaking of the incident, it happened in the 11th over of New Zealand’s batting innings. When Mitchell played the ball towards the pacer, Arshdeep hurled it right back, hitting the batter on the legs. Tempers flared from there on as the experienced Kiwi batter charged towards Arshdeep to say a thing or two.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav had to step in and calm things down. However, Arshdeep made amends once the over was over. The two also engaged in a brief chat after India eventually won the final by 96 runs. Arshdeep explained to Mitchell that he had no bad intentions.
What did Arshdeep say about the incident?
After India’s T20 World Cup triumph, Arshdeep told the host broadcaster that he didn’t want to hurt Mitchell, and it was just a case of his flexes taking over. He also joked that the ball had reverse-swinged, which was why it hit Mitchell.
“My throw reverse-swung a bit too much, and it hit his body, so I told him that I didn’t hit him intentionally,” he said in a chat with Harsha Bhogle.
Speaking of India, the Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup for the third time after beating the Black Caps in the final. India became the first team to defend the title and also won the tournament on home soil.
Batting first, India posted 255/5 in 20 overs after being asked to bat. Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan hit half-centuries to put in a dominant show. With the ball, Jasprit Bumrah then scalped four wickets as the Kiwis were bundled out for 159.
