Indian captain Virat Kohli said that as a team they are not happy for losing two crucial WTC points due to a slow over-rate in the first test at Nottingham against England. It was on Wednesday when ICC confirmed that both India and England were docked two WTC points along with a 40% fine for maintaining a slow over-rate.
Virat Kohli said ahead of the second test in a virtual interaction that “As a team, we were not pleased that we lost two points due to something which is definitely in our control”.
Virat Kohli said India tried to cover up the lost overs in the second innings but eventually they still ended two overs short.
Virat Kohli said “We made up quite a few overs towards the end in the second innings, we were shot by two overs. That’s basically what we need to do. We need to keep up with the pace of the game. All little things where we can save 10-15 seconds is what matters. We practiced that in the second innings and we were able to cover up to three to four overs. You don’t want to be that far behind where you can’t catch up”.
Chris Board of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after both sides were ruled to be two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
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By Article 2.22 of ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offenses, players are fined 20% of their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
In addition, as per Article16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, aside is penalized one point for each over short.
Both England and Indian captain pleaded guilty and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
The members who leveled the charges were the on-field umpires Michael Gough and Richard Keetleborough, third umpire Richard Illingworth and fourth umpire David Millns.
But eventually, the first test between India and England ended in a draw as the rain completely washed out the day 5 play of the first test match. When the match was well poised as India needed 157 runs to win whereas the host needed nine wickets.
The second test between India and England will be played at Lord’s which will begin on Thursday. Both teams will be desperate for a win as the first test ended in a draw and take a lead in the five-match test series.
