Pakistan captain Fatima Sana fined over Shafali Verma gesture in Asia Cup

By Al Jazeera Staff. Published On 7 Sep 20267 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for gesturing during her team's Asia Cup group match against India last week.
• The 50-over world champions are record seven-time Asia Cup winners, their most recent title coming in 2022.
• Pakistan have never won the title and have twice concluded runners-up to their neighbours, in 2012 and 2016.
• Sana was named Pakistan's captain in October 2024, their youngest women's cricket team leader, at 22 years of age.
• The incident came as Sana gestured to the pavilion after she caught and bowled out Shafali Verma in her second over.

Sana was handed a fine of 10 percent of her match fee by the ICC on Monday, two days after India handed Pakistan a crushing record T20 defeat in the regional tournament.

Notably, the incident came as Sana gestured to the pavilion after she caught and bowled out Shafali Verma in her second over. Verma scored 12 runs off six balls as India demolished Pakistan by seven wickets to remain unbeaten in the competition.

Sana admitted to her offence. It breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct relating to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon dismissal."

Additionally, one demerit point was continued to her disciplinary record, making it the second such offence in a 24-month period. The previous incident occurred during a T20I game against Ireland in August 2025.

According to the ICC's Code of Conduct, Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player's match fee, and one or two demerit points.

India have cruised through to the semifinals with six points from three matches. Meanwhile, Pakistan are looking for a win against Hong Kong on Monday.

Meanwhile, the 50-over world champions are record seven-time Asia Cup winners, their most recent title coming in 2022.

Taken together, the developments around pakistan captain Fatima Sana fined over Shafali Verma gesture in Asia Cup point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.