ICC reacts after mobile phone was used in Karachi Kings dugout in PSL 2020

Cricket has seen many instances for unfair usage of technology being done during matches. And, in a recent controversy that came up during the on-going Pakistan Super League, saw calls being made from the dugout during the match, which brought the tournament into the cricket community’s discussions for wrong reasons.

Pakistan Super League has been in a bad light on many instances in the past too. Prior to the start of the tournament, Alex Hales, who is playing from Karachi Kings had posted a picture on his Instagram story showing a massive fire in a place far from the UBL Sports Complex, where he was. The picture had a sarcastic caption that read, ‘Looks promising.’ This pots of his added fuel to the fire of the concerns regarding the security of the players, which had been in discussion for quite some time now.

The visuals from the dugout, as reported by Cricket Next, showed an official in the Karachi Kings dugout, using a mobile phone, to make a call, during a match against the Peshawar Zalmi, on Saturday. This sparked a series of reactions from fans, players, experts and veterans of the sport from all over the globe, most of whom hailed it to be a display of misconduct and violation of rules, in a league that has been recognized and is conducted according to the rules laid down by the International Cricket Council.

The coach of Karachi Kings, Dean Jones, in whose dugout the phone was being used in, came in to defend his mate. He told that the man using the phone was Tariq Wasi, who is the CEO of the team and he was allowed to do so. “Like in ALL T20 cricket. The manager/CEO is the only one allowed to have a phone. In this case Tariq… our CEO is doing work. Here he is organising us practice times for today. Thanks for your concern,’ Dean Jones tweeted.

ICC official responds

The stand of the International Cricket Council also became a talking point. The ace governing body decided not to interfere in this matter. The ICC backed its stand by saying that PSL, being a domestic tournament, does not fall under its jurisdiction and it is the Pakistan Cricket Board that will be looking into the matter. “It’s a domestic match and as such an issue for the PCB,” the ICC official said as quoted by Cricket Next.