Kranti Gaud took the first wicket of the Asia Cup final, and the ICC has fined her for how she celebrated it
The ICC has sanctioned India’s Kranti Gaud over her dismissal celebration in the Women’s Asia Cup final, a Level 1 charge she admitted without a hearing.
Sep 15, 2026
Kranti Gaud took the first wicket of the Women’s Asia Cup final and celebrated it in a way the match referee did not care for. Two days on, it has cost her 10 per cent of her match fee and the first demerit point of her international career.
The wicket, and the send-off
India had put 183 for 5 on the board at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, and Gaud opened the bowling at the defence of it. Imesha Dulani went for a scoop off the fourth ball of the first over, missed, and watched the ball hit the top of her leg stump. Gaud then turned and gestured towards the pavilion.
That gesture is what the International Cricket Council has sanctioned. The charge is a breach of Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which covers “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”. It sits at Level 1, the lowest rung of the code.
Gaud admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Supriya Rani Das of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees, so there was no hearing. On-field umpires Saleema Imtiaz and Shathira Jakir Jesy laid the charge along with third umpire Rokeya Sultana and fourth umpire Humaira Farah.
What a demerit point actually means
A Level 1 breach carries anything from an official reprimand to a fine of half a match fee, plus one or two demerit points. Gaud got the lighter end of both: 10 per cent, and a single point. It is her first offence in a 24-month window, and the point stays on her disciplinary record for 24 months from the date it was imposed before it is wiped.
The number to watch is four. Four demerit points inside two years converts into suspension points, and two suspension points mean a missed Test or two missed white-ball internationals. One point is an administrative note rather than a problem. It only becomes a problem if three more follow before September 2028, and for a 23-year-old seamer who has been an India international only since May 2025, that is a long runway.
A footnote to a one-sided final
The sanction lands on a match India were never behind in. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put on 129 for the first wicket, Shafali making 68 and Mandhana 59, and the stand ran into the 13th over before Mandhana was run out. Sri Lanka, the defending champions, never got near the chase. Chamari Athapaththu made 36 off 32 and was the only batter to pass 25. They were bowled out for 111 off the last ball of the innings, beaten by 72 runs.
Gaud’s own contribution was 1 for 8 from two overs, which is a tidy new-ball spell in a total that never needed one. Shree Charani took 4 for 20 and Deepti Sharma 3 for 19. Shafali was named player of the match.
It was India’s eighth Asia Cup title and their fourth since the tournament went T20, which is eight of the ten editions ever played. The trophy itself went uncollected, which has been the bigger talking point of the week. Gaud’s fine is the smaller one, and unlike the other it is closed: charge laid, offence admitted, sanction accepted, no appeal.