Was Jadeja's throw really dangerous? ICC's Code of Conduct fails to answer

New Delhi: ICC’s decision to suspended India’s Ravindra Jadeja for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka has sparked off a debate on the parameters the cricket’s governing body follows to ban or suspend players.

Jadeja was slapped with the suspension after breaching article 2.2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct. 

So what is article 2.2.8?

Article 2.2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Player and Player Support Personnel, relates to “throwing a ball (or any other item of cricket equipment such as a water bottle) at or near a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other third person in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner during an International Match”.

What was Jadeja’s fault?

According to ICC’s media release, Jadeja, after fielding off his own bowling in the 58th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings, threw the ball back at the batsman who had not left his crease. The on-field umpires deemed the throwing “in a dangerous manner” as it narrowly missed Malinda Pushpakumara.

SI സോമന് സസ്പൻഷൻ #JadejaSuspension pic.twitter.com/mH3M95OGfC

— മ്യായാവി™ (@myayaavi) August 6, 2017

Why is there a debate?

Though there are no doubts that Jadeja’s throw narrowly missed Pushpakumara while he was making no attempt to run a single, but it was surely not the only incident of a bowler or fileder throwing the ball unnecessarily at the batsman.

In the same Test match, India’s captain Virat Kohli had thrown the ball towards Kusal Mendis twice. But he walked away without a demerit point. Jadea was not as lucky and was slapped with three demerit points.  

The world’s top-ranked Test bowler and all-rounder had earlier attracted three demerit points against New Zealand last year, which took his total tally to six points, enough for a suspension from 1 Test/ 2 ODIs/ 2 T20Is, whichever comes first

If Jadeja’s bad luck continues and he is found guilty of yet another ‘harmless’ throw like that before October, he might have to face further consequences.

What next?

Was Jadeja’s throw actually that dangerous? What is the parameter to judge that? Isn’t the structure of demerit points too harsh on a cricketer? These are some of the questions doing the rounds after ICC’s decision to suspend Jadeja. 

India may not be sweating too much on Jadeja’s unavailability in the inconsequential final Test, but if ICC doesn’t come up with an improved and uniform description of its Code of Conduct, then time is not far when an untimely suspension like this may spell doom for the player as well as his team.