PSL 2023: Kieron Pollard rebuked for rough send-off to Abdullah Shafique

Multan Sultans’ player Kieron Pollard was reprimanded after the match against Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on March 4, 2023, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

In the 13th over of the Qalandars’ innings, Pollard completed a caught-and-bowled chance successfully to dismiss Abdullah Shafique, who hit the ball straight back to Pollard. After the wicket, the West Indies batter gave a rough send-off to the Pakistan opener. 

Following his wonder with the reflexes, Pollard, who had dropped Shafique earlier, put out his thumb and signalled behind to point at the pavilion. Pollard gestured Shafique to depart and accompanied it with a stare. This was taken note of by the umpires and the match referee who later reprimanded him for his actions.

The explosive Windies batter, however, had a memorable time with his bat in the match. He became the third batter to go past the 12,000-run mark in T20 cricket after Shoaib Malik and Chris Gayle. The dashing right-hander also became the second batter to hit 800 maximums in the shortest format of the sport.

While batting, Pollard racked up 39 runs off 28 deliveries with two fours and three sixes. Earlier, with the ball, he delivered a decent spell of 2-0-16-2. However, in the end, his all-round performance couldn’t save the Sultans from a 21-run defeat as the Mohammad Rizwan-led team could amass only 159 at the loss of seven wickets. Currently, on the points table, the Sultans are placed in the second position only behind Lahore Qalandars. 

Pollard’s action breached a PSL code of conduct

Following his actions against Shafique, Pollard was found guilty of violating level 1 of the PSL Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. The Windies all-rounder also breached Article 2.5 of the PSL Code of Conduct, which states “Using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during a match”. 

After the game, an official statement from PSL's side also confirmed that the Sultans’ stalwart had accepted the reprimand from the match referee Muhammad Javed Malik. The veteran has also pleaded guilty to the charges levelled by on-field umpires Martin Saggers and Faisal Afridi, third umpire Ahsan Raza and fourth umpire Shozab Raza.