Zimbabwe cricketer Ryan Burl must have been over the moon after signing a sponsorship deal with Puma Cricket. A few days back, the all-rounder took to Twitter and shared a picture of his torn shoes. He apparently asked for sponsorship for his national team so that the players won’t have to fix the shoes back every time a series gets over. His plea was heard within 24 hours as Puma Cricket offered him a sponsorship deal.

While the cricket world was delighted with Puma helping Burl, the whole episode has reportedly not gone down well with Zimbabwe Cricket Board. The cricket body is not happy with Burl’s plea on social media as it hampers the image of the organization. Moreover, the southpaw can face repercussions over this incident as the board officials are mulling to take disciplinary action against him.

Ryan Burl could be punished

According to a couple of tweets from journalist Adam Theo, the board members might drop the all-rounder for his help-seeking tweet. “I’m told that certain members high up in Zimbabwe Cricket are angry at Ryan Burl’s plea for sponsorship help as it “reflects bad on the organisation. I’m also told that the same members want disciplinary action to be enforced. This would be a terrible move by Zim Cricket,” wrote Theo in a tweet.

“Knowing how ZC works, this won’t be public disciplinary action but rather behind the doors nonsense. Don’t be surprised to see team selection omissions and similar techniques used. Hope I’m wrong,” he added.

Knowing how ZC works, this won’t be public disciplinary action but rather behind the doors nonsense. Don’t be surprised to see team selection omissions and similar techniques used. Hope I’m wrong.

— Adam Theo🇿🇼🏏 (@AdamTheofilatos) May 23, 2021

Meanwhile, Burl has been a part of Zimbabwe’s team across formats lately. The southpaw is an aggressive batsman in the middle-order who can also contribute with his handy leg-breaks. So far, he has played three Tests, 15 ODIs, and 25 T20Is, in which he scored 660 runs and scalped 18 wickets. These numbers are indeed not incredible, but the 27-year-old would like to enhance his game with time.

Zimbabwe will next take the field in August when they travel Ireland for three ODIs and as many T20Is. The side couldn’t do well against Pakistan in their last assignment as they lost the Test series 0-2 before facing a 1-2 defeat in T20Is. Nevertheless, they would be determined to put up a much better show against the Irish side.