PCB fines Balochistan batsman Awais Zia for abusing teammate

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has slapped Balochistan opener Awais Zia with a hefty fine for committing a level-2 offence related to ‘personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee’. Zia came under fire for having violated the code of conduct during a recent three-day game against Southern Punjab in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

The incident happened on the first day of the match when the batsman used inappropriate language against teammate Shehzad Tareen. Zia was furious with Tareen after a misunderstanding led to his run-out and he was seen uttering objectional words while walking back to the pavilion.

Zia was charged by on-field umpires Imtiaz Iqbal and Abdul Moqeet at the end of the day’s play for violating Article 2.13 of the PCB’s code of conduct for players and player support personnel. The next day, the 33-year-old Zia pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction that was proposed by Mohammad Javed Malik, the match referee.

Zia has played in 5 T20Is for Pakistan without much success

Zia has played five T20Is for Pakistan between February 2012 and December 2014, scoring 70 runs with the highest score of 23 made against England in Abu Dhabi in February 2012. After having played three games against England, he got a call back in the national team again in October 2014 when he played in a couple of games against Australia and New Zealand but scored just 23 runs in those outings.

Zia was spotted for his big-hitting ability but could not sustain it at the highest level. Zia, however, is an experienced campaigner in first-class games with 5,366 runs from 90 matches scored at an average of around 39. He has eight hundreds in first-class career with the highest score of 232. He has also played in 84 List ‘A’ games in which he averages above 38 and has made six hundreds till date.

Zia also has a hundred in the T20s in 72 outings and has a strike rate of 129. A right-arm off-break bowler, Zia also has nine wickets in first-class cricket and eight each in List ‘A’ and T20s. Having not played international cricket since 2014, it remains to be see if he can make a comeback to the Pakistan team, being in the second-half of his career at the age of 33.

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