In the aftermath of the controversial Sandpaper gate, Australian captain Steve Smith was handed a one-match ban while the prime perpetrator, Cameron Bancroft, was let loose without any suspension.
ICC penalized Smith 100% of his match fees along with the one-match ban. Whereas, Bancroft was slapped a fine of 75% of his match fees with a single demerit point.
However, this move of ICC did not go down well with the cricketing fraternity as the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Michael Vaughan pointed out prejudice and biases within the system.
Bhajji has been involved in several instances of breaching the code of conduct, be it for excessive appealing during the South African tour of 2002 or the infamous Monkey gate of the Australian tour of 2008.
“Wow @ICC wow. Great treatment nd FairPlay. No ban for Bancroft with all the evidences whereas 6 of us were banned for excessive appealing in South Africa 2001 without any evidence and Remember Sydney 2008? Not found guilty and banned for 3 matches.different people different rules,” tweeted Harbhajan Singh, while citing out biases within the ICC.
Here’s the post
wow @ICC wow. Great treatment nd FairPlay. No ban for Bancroft with all the evidences whereas 6 of us were banned for excessive appealing in South Africa 2001 without any evidence and Remember Sydney 2008? Not found guilty and banned for 3 matches.different people different rules
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) March 25, 2018
Former English captain Michael Vaughan also seconded Harbhajan Singh’s opinions, by rubbishing ICC’s decision by a judgment of his own.
“1 Match Ban & 100 % March fee Fine for Smith #ffs. 75% match fee fine for Bancroft and some bloody Demerit points for Bancroft. Pathetic penalties for CHEATING. Surely this moment was the time to set a precedent? All the team should be penalised,” tweeted Michael Vaughan.
The two former cricketers reckon that the penalties and punishment to the two Australian cricketers, is far away from severe, looking at the gravity of the offense.
1 Match Ban & 100 % March fee Fine for Smith #ffs … 75% match fee fine for Bancroft and some bloody De merit points for Bancroft … Pathetic penalties for CHEATING … Surely this moment was the time to set a precedent … !!?? All the team should be penalised ..
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 25, 2018
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