Nicholas Pooran banned for ball-tampering in West Indies series against Afghanistan

West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran has been banned for his country's next four Twenty20 matches after admitting to tampering with the ball.

The Windies won their one-day international series against Afghanistan 3-0 but the result has been overshadowed by Pooran's actions in the final match in Lucknow.

Cameras caught the 24-year-old using his thumb to scrape at the ball and seam and when charged under the International Cricket Council's code, by English match referee Chris Broad, he accepted.

A statement from the governing body read: "Pooran was charged with violating Article 2.14 of the code, which relates to "changing the condition of the ball" after video footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail.

"He will now miss the next four T20I games for the West Indies and will have five demerit points added to his record."

Pooran, who has re-signed as Yorkshire's overseas player next year, will now miss the forthcoming short-form series against Afghanistan and one subsequent match. He will still be available for the Test leg of the tour.

"I want to issue a sincere apology to my team-mates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow," Pooran said.

"I recognise that I made an extreme error in judgement and I fully accept the ICC penalty. I want to assure everyone that this is an isolated incident and it will not be repeated. I promise to learn from this and come back stronger and wiser."