Raipur, 20 October 2026: India’s Shafali Verma has been given an official reprimand and one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Women’s T20I against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Sunday.
The incident happened in the 12th over of Zimbabwe’s innings. Verma dropped Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano at mid-off off the bowling of Sree Charani and then threw the ball into the ground in frustration.
She was found to have breached Article 2.2 of the code, which covers abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match.
No formal hearing needed
Verma admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by G.S. Lakshmi of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
The charge was brought by on-field umpires Vrinda Rathi and Gayathri Venugopalan, third umpire Anna Harris and fourth umpire Janani Narayanan.
This is Verma’s first offence in 24 months. A Level 1 breach carries a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum fine of 50 per cent of the player’s match fee, along with one or two demerit points.
How demerit points work
A player who reaches four or more demerit points within 24 months has them turned into suspension points and is banned. Two suspension points mean a ban from one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is, whichever comes first for that player. Demerit points stay on a player’s record for 24 months before they are removed.
Runs on the board
The sanction came in a match where Verma did plenty with the bat. India’s T20I vice-captain made 55 from 25 balls as India beat Zimbabwe by nine wickets to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. She stays fourth in the ICC women’s T20I batting rankings.
The match was also remembered for Niki Prasad taking wickets with her first two balls in international cricket. Read the second T20I report.
