Bangladesh's Maruf Mridha penalized for breaching ICC Code of Conduct against India during U19 World Cup 2024

In a fiery U19 World Cup encounter between India and Bangladesh, pacer Maruf Mridha was found guilty of a Level 1 offense as per the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support.

According to Article 2.5 of the code of conduct, the player was charged for 'using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.'

After dismissing Aravelly Avanish during the U19 World Cup encounter, Maruf Mridha gave the batter an aggressive send-off, which involved pointing towards the dressing room, twice. This has led to the pacer being given a demerit point and has been officially reprimanded.

Maruf accepted the charges leveled against him by the on-field umpires and thus there wasn't any need for a hearing. While the pacer wasn't charged 50 percent of his match fee, his demerit point will be counted for 24 months in case there are further breaches of conduct.

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Maruf Mridha's fifer wasn't enough for Bangladesh to beat India

Maruf Mridha was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers as he ended up with figures of 5/43 in his eight overs and helped restrict India to 251/7 in their 50 overs. Opener Adarsh Singh's 76 and skipper Uday Sharan's patient 64 ensured the Indian team had a fighting total on the board.

However, the score proved to be more than enough as Bangladesh were skittled for just 167 in reply. Saumy Pandey stood out for India with figures of 4/24 in 9.5 overs. Mohammad Shihab James' half-century was perhaps the only shining light in a meek surrender from Bangladesh.

The two teams have had some history as they had played another fiery encounter in the final of the U19 World Cup 2020, which Bangladesh won by three wickets. India would be happy that they could avenge that defeat with an 84-run thumping of the opposition.