Afghanistan’s international cricketer Fazalhaq Farooqi was fired last week by his Big Bash League side Sydney Thunder following an “incident” that was investigated by Cricket Australia.
According to a statement issued by Australia Cricket, the Sydney Thunder have terminated their deal with Farooqi after a ‘behavior’ incident triggered an investigation by Cricket Australia’s Integrity Unit.
The Thunder said the club received a complaint about the behavior of Farooqi following an incident on Thursday, December 15, and referred it to Cricket Australia for investigation.
Following that investigation, and a subsequent hearing and ruling by a Cricket Australia Conduct Commissioner, the Thunder have decided to terminate Farooqi’s contract, the statement read.
Farooqi had already played one match for the Thunder – taking 2-20 and making a first-ball duck with the bat – before the incident took place.
Cricket NSW CEO Lee Germon said: “The behaviors displayed by Fazalhaq Farooqi sit outside our values and it was determined that his contract be terminated.
“Our focus now is providing the necessary support to those affected by this incident.”
The statement said the details of the incident were confidential, and neither Cricket Australia nor the Thunder would add any further comment.
The Afghan was picked up by the Thunder after impressing with his performances in Australia during the T20 World Cup.
He had been signed to a nine-game deal as a replacement for the Thunder’s top draft pick David Willey, who withdrew from the tournament in mid-November.
The 22-year-old has represented his country 17 times in T20 internationals, the most recent of which was in Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup clash with Australia at the Adelaide Oval last month.
Farooqi picked up the wickets of Matthew Wade and Cameron Green in that fixture and conceded just 29 runs in a performance that caught the eye of Thunder list managers.
The left-armer – whose yorker is a feature of his death-bowling game – is also a member of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the IPL. Farooqi has also signed with the MI Emirates team in the UAE’s ILT20 competition starting in January, which is now his next scheduled match.
