Kranti Gaud fined 10 per cent of her match fee for a send-off in the Asia Cup final

India seamer Kranti Gaud has been fined 10 per cent of her match fee and given a demerit point for the send-off she gave Sri Lanka opener Imesha Dulani in the Women's Asia Cup final

The International Cricket Council confirmed the sanction on Monday, a day after India had beaten Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai to take the Women's Asia Cup for a record eighth time.

Gaud was found to have breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, the Level 1 offence that covers language, actions or gestures which disparage a batter, or which could provoke an aggressive reaction, on dismissal.

She admitted the offence and accepted the penalty proposed by match referee Supriya Rani Das, so no formal hearing was required. One demerit point was added to a disciplinary record that had been clean, the ICC confirming it was her first offence in a 24-month period.

A gesture in the first over

The incident came in the opening over of Sri Lanka's reply. Gaud bowled Dulani and then gestured in the direction of the pavilion, the send-off that the umpires reported after play.

It set the tone for an innings Sri Lanka never recovered from. Chasing 184 after India had posted 183 for 5, they were bowled out for 111, with Sree Charani taking four wickets and Deepti Sharma three.

India's total had been built on Shafali Verma, whose 68 contained the fastest fifty in the history of the women's tournament, off 24 balls, and on Smriti Mandhana's 59 at the other end.

It was India's tenth consecutive appearance in the final and reversed the result of the 2024 edition, which Sri Lanka had won.

How the charge was laid

On-field umpires Saleema Imtiaz and Shathira Jakir Jesy levelled the charge, supported by third umpire Rokeya Sultana and fourth umpire Humaira Farah.

Because Gaud accepted both the charge and the proposed penalty, the matter was closed without a hearing, the route the great majority of Level 1 cases take.

What a Level 1 breach carries

Level 1 offences carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum of 50 per cent of a player's match fee, along with one or two demerit points.

Gaud's punishment sits at the lower end of that range, and the demerit point stays on her record for 24 months from the date of the offence.

A first blemish on a fast rise

The sanction is the first mark against a bowler who has risen quickly. Born in Ghuwara, Madhya Pradesh, in August 2003, Gaud made her ODI debut against Sri Lanka in May 2025 and her T20I debut against England two months later.

At Chester-le-Street that July she took 6 for 52 against England, becoming the youngest India player to take a five-wicket haul in a women's ODI at 21 years and 345 days.

She was part of the side that won the 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup, and made her Test debut against Australia in March this year before returning career-best figures of 5 for 37 at Lord's.

Pakistan fined over the semi-final over-rate

In a separate ruling, Pakistan were fined five per cent of their match fee for a slow over-rate in Friday's semi-final against Sri Lanka.

Match referee G.S. Lakshmi judged the side one over short of the target once time allowances were taken into account. Under Article 2.22, players forfeit five per cent of their fee for each over missed, and captain Fatima Sana pleaded guilty rather than contest the charge.

Both sanctions close the disciplinary file on a tournament India finished unbeaten.

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