Pacer Zaheer Khan was fined 80 per cent of his match fee on Tuesday for unsporting conduct during India's dominant second cricket Test victory over Australia.
Left-armer Khan took three wickets in four balls on the final morning to help propel India to its 320-run win before attending a hearing with International Cricket Council match referee Chris Broad.
He pleaded guilty to a Level 2 offense for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game for his celebration after the dismissal of opener Matthew Hayden in Australia's second innings on Monday.
He was fielding when Hayden was adjudged lbw to Harbhajan Singh and ``circled the batsman and shouted at him in an aggressive manner,'' according to the charge.
``Clearly, this sort of behaviour is not acceptable at any level of cricket _ it showed a lack of respect for the player who had been dismissed,'' Broad said. ``Respect for the opposition was something that we talked about in the pre-series meeting I had with both captains and so it was disappointing that Zaheer behaved in this way.''
Broad considered Khan's good disciplinary record in delivering the fine. He could have been fined his entire match fee or been banned for a Test match. ``He also pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and was very apologetic while also promising not to repeat the offence,'' Broad said. Hayden complained to umpire Rudi Koertzen, who was standing at square leg, when he left the ground in the over before tea on Monday.
Hayden's dismissal sparked a collapse, with Australia losing five wickets for nine runs to slump to 58-5 while chasing an unlikely victory target of 516. Umpires Rudi Koertzen and Asad Rauf intervened on a number of occasions during the match to call for calm between the players.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni defended the behavior of some of his players _ Harbhajan Singh was particularly animated on occasions _ during the Test. ``The match referee decides that,'' Dhoni said. ``If there is some aggressive cricket in the field going on, I prefer that. The guys are not really crossing the boundary, so it is OK.''
Ponting said he did not mind ``chitchat'' on the field, but ``if players do overstep the line then the umpires get involved.'' ``They did get involved a couple of times in this game,'' he said. Keep read more : Cricket Update
