February 06, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 27, 1429

BRISBANE, Feb 5: Young Indian batsman Rohit Sharma was fined 10 percent of his match fee for dissent after being incorrectly judged caught behind off Muttiah Muralitharan for a duck in the triangular series on Tuesday.

Sharma was the second India batsman to remain camped to the crease following his dismissal over the past six weeks, but his punishment was stronger than Yuvraj Singh’s following an in-depth pre-series discussion on behaviour by Jeff Crowe, the match referee.

Crowe found Sharma, a first offender, guilty under section 1.3 of the ICC’s code of conduct for “excessive, obvious disappointment at an umpire’s decision and an obvious delay in leaving the wicket”.

The Sri Lankans were convinced Sharma had edged the ball to Kumar Sangakkara, but the replays showed South African umpire Rudi Koertzen made a serious error.

“The only reason I appeal is if I think the batsman’s nicked it,” Sangakkara said after the match. “I appeal and wait for a decision.”

Sharma eventually departed after facing only two balls, but the decision did not affect the result as India reached 267-4 before rain ended the match.

In the first Test of the series against Australia in Melbourne in December, Yuvraj escaped a similar charge when it was ruled he showed extreme disappointment rather than dissent following a catch to Adam Gilchrist.—Agencies