Pooran banned for ball-tampering

West Indies cricketer Nicholas Pooran has been banned for four Twenty20 international matches after pleading guilty to ball-tampering during the third One-Day International match against Afghanistan in India on Monday.

Pooran was caught on camera scratching the ball with his thumb – a level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.

The left-handed Trinidadian will miss the entire T20 series against Afghanistan, which starts tomorrow, plus one match in the series vs India, which starts next month.

Pooran, 24, averaged 48.00 in the West Indies' sweep of the ODI series against Afghanistan – the third highest among Windies batsmen.

His ban puts a slight damper on the West Indies camp, which got its first ODI series win in five years.