Southampton: India captain Virat Kohli has been fined 25% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ICC World Cup 2019 match against Afghanistan in Southampton on Saturday (June 22).

Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “Excessive appealing during an International Match”.

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Saturday’s incident occurred in the 29th over of the Afghanistan innings, when Kohli advanced towards umpire Aleem Dar in an aggressive manner when appealing an lbw decision.

Kohli admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, and as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

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In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Kohli, for whom it was the second offence since the introduction of the revised Code in September 2016.

Kohli now has two demerit points after having got one demerit point during the Pretoria Test against South Africa on 15 January 2018.

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On-field umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth, third umpire Richard Kettleborough and fourth official Michael Gough levelled the charges.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.

What are demerit points and suspension points? Read on.

According to ICC’s Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel (Effective as from 30 September 2018)

Example of the application of demerit points

1. A Player commits a Level 1 offence and receives a fine of 50% from the Match Referee.

2. That Player will correspondingly receive two (2) Demerit Points in respect of that offence on his/her disciplinary record.

3. The same Player then commits a Level 2 offence three (3) months after the Level 1 offence was committed and is sanctioned with 2 Suspension Points by the Match Referee.

4. The Level 2 offence will equate to four (4) Demerit Points.

5. As the second offence took place within three (3) months of the first offence, the Demerit Points imposed in respect of the second offence are added to the Demerit Points imposed in respect of the first offence, meaning that the Player now has an accumulated total of six (6) Demerit Points.

6. Six (6) Demerit Points equate to a suspension equivalent to two (2) Suspension Points (i.e. 1 Test Match or 2 ODIs or 2 T20Is. Such suspension will be served by the Player concurrently with the suspension imposed in respect of the Level 2 offence.

7. After completing his/her suspension, the Demerit Points remain on the Player’s disciplinary record for a period of twenty-four (24) months.

8. Three (3) months later, the Player commits another Level 2 offence and is sanctioned for that offence with a 100% fine.

9. A further three (3) Demerit Points will then be added to the Player’s disciplinary record in respect of that offence, taking his/her accumulated total within twenty-four (24) months to nine (9) Demerit Points.

10. Nine (9) Demerit Points equate to a suspension equivalent to four (4) Suspension Points (i.e. 2 Test Matches, 1 Test Match and 2 ODIs/T20Is or 4 ODIs or 4 T20Is). Such suspension will be served by the Player immediately upon notice of the same in accordance with Article 7.7.

11. After completing his/her suspension, the Demerit Points remain on the Player’s disciplinary record for a period of twenty-four (24) months.

Examples of the application of suspension points

1. Where a Player’s playing history suggests that he/she is most likely to represent his/her National Cricket Federation in Test Matches only, then the Suspension Points shall be applied to his/her future participation in Test Matches only, so that six (6) Suspension Points would be applied to the three (3) Test Matches immediately following the announcement of the decision, notwithstanding that the National Cricket Federation might be participating in intervening One Day International Matches and/or Twenty20 International Matches.

2. Where a Player’s playing history suggests that he/she is likely to be selected to represent his/her National Cricket Federation in all formats of International Matches, then the Suspension Points shall be applied to his/her future participation in all International Matches in the sequential order in which such International Matches take place immediately following the announcement of the decision. The examples set out below, would apply to the following chronological list of potential playing fixtures:

- Code of Conduct decision

- One-Day International Match - weighting 1 Suspension Point (“Match A”)

- One-Day International Match - weighting 1 Suspension Point (“Match B”)

- Test Match - weighting 2 Suspension Point (“Match C”)

- Test Match weighting 2 Suspension Point (“Match D”)

- Twenty20 International Match - weighting 1 Suspension Point (“Match E”)

- Twenty20 International Match - weighting 1 Suspension Point (“Match F”)

(a) One (1) Suspension Point would be applied to Match A;

(b) Two (2) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A and B;

(c) Three (3) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A, B and E;

(d) Four (4) Suspension Point would be applied to Match A, B and C;

(e) Five (5) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A, B, C and E;

(f) Six (6) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A, B, C and D;

(g) Seven (7) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A, B, C, D and E;

(h) Eight (8) Suspension Points would be applied to Matches A, B, C, D, E and F.