Azam, who plays for Karachi Whites in the tournament, was fined 50% of his match fee by match referee PCB on Sunday after he refused to remove the Palestine flag sticker from his bat during the match. against Lahore Blues. The wicketkeeper-batsman was found to have breached Article 2.4 of the PCB Code of Conduct for repeated failure to comply with the instructions or directives of an umpire during a match.
The PCB did not give any reason for the total waiver of the fine nor did it explain whether Azam had agreed to remove the sticker from his bat for the remaining matches of the tournament.
“The 50 per cent fine imposed on Azam Khan by the match referees has been reviewed and overturned by the Pakistan Cricket Board,” the PCB said in a statement.
“Karachi Whites’ keeper-batsman was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for being found guilty of committing a level 1 offense during his team’s 2023-24 National T20 Cup match against Lahore Blues in the National Bank Stadium in Karachi”.
Under ICC rules, players and team officials cannot wear, display or transmit personal messages on their equipment unless previously approved by the player’s or team official’s cricket association and the PCB cricket operations department. .
Azam has appeared in five T20Is for Pakistan, including two against Afghanistan earlier this year. He is known for his great batting skills in T20s and is also a regular on franchise cricket circuits around the world.