West Indies pacer Jayden Seales has been fined 25 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the opening day of the second Test against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The incident took place on Friday in the 29th over of India’s first innings when Seales, after fielding the ball on his follow-through, threw it at batter Yashasvi Jaiswal and hit him on the pads. An ICC statement confirmed, “Seales was found to have 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’.” The governing body further added, “In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Seales’ disciplinary record, taking his total demerit points to two in a 24-month period.” His previous demerit point was recorded during a Test match against Bangladesh in December 2024. Seales contested the sanction proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft, which led to a formal hearing. According to the ICC, “Seales contested that he was attempting a run out. But the Match Referee, who referred to replay clips showing the incident from different angles, concluded that the throw was unnecessary and inappropriate, hitting the batter on the pads when he was within the crease.” The charge was laid by on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Paul Reiffel, third umpire Alex Wharf, and fourth umpire K.N. Ananthapadmanabhan. The ICC noted that “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.”
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Do you believe Seales’ throw was intentional or accidental?
The incident occurred during a dominant start to India’s innings, with Jaiswal at the crease after his fluent double century in the first Test at Ahmedabad. While the throw did not cause injury, the match referee ruled it to be “inappropriate conduct” under the game’s disciplinary code.
