After suffering a defeat to South Africa by an innings and 32 runs, the Indian cricket team have been handed a penalty of 2 points by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The penalty was imposed as India failed to maintain the required over-rate during the Centurion Test, prompting the ICC to deduct 2 crucial points from the team’s World Test Championship (WTC) points table standings. Not just that, as part of the penalty the Indian team has also been fined 10% of their match fee.
As per a release issued by the ICC, the sanction was imposed after India were ruled to be two overs short of the target.
As per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, the players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
After the Test loss, India found themselves at No.5 with 16 points from three Tests and a points percentage of 44.44. However, the deduction of points for the slow-over rate further weakens India’s position in the standings, causing them to slip below Australia to No.6, with 14 points and a points percentage of 38.89.
After the game, Rohit didn’t hold back to give his take on the game and said, “We were not good enough to win. Having been put into bat, KL batted well to get us that score but then we didn’t exploit the conditions with the ball and then again didn’t show up today with the bat. If we have to win Test matches, we have to come together collectively, and we didn’t do that.”
“Guys have come here before; we know what to expect and everyone has their own plan. Our batters were challenged and we didn’t adapt well. This is a boundary-scoring ground; we saw them score many but we need to understand the opposition and their strengths as well. We didn’t bat well in both innings; that’s why we stand here. Not too many positives to finish the game within 3 days, but KL showed what we need to do on this sort of pitch,” Rohit added.
