Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed was praised by the International Cricket Council for his “true leadership” in reporting a corrupt approach that resulted in a domestic coach getting banned for 10 years from the sport.

Sarfraz reported the approach during the Pakistan-Sri Lanka ODI series in 2017 in the UAE.

Irfan Ansari was prosecuted for ‘non cooperation with an enquiry’ after refusing to testify to the ICC’s anti-corruption body on two occasions.

“I would like to place on record my thanks to Sarfraz Ahmed who showed true leadership and professionalism from the moment he reported this approach,” said ICC general manager Alex Marshall.

“He recognised it for what it was, rejected it and reported it. He then supported our investigation and subsequent tribunal. This is the first time we have prosecuted for failure to cooperate with an investigation since the new rules enabling us to demand the participants hand over their phone for examination and the sanction reflects the seriousness of the offence.”

Ansari, who coached in Sharjah, got in touch with Sarfraz looking to extract match information from the keeper batsman about the series.

Sarfraz reported Ansari immediately. Ansari was prosecuted as he has been a coach of two teams in domestic matches in the UAE.

He was found guilty of three offences under the ICC code.