India fined 20% of match fee for slow over-rate in opening ODI against West Indies

India have been fined 20% of their match fee for a slow over rate against West Indies in the first ODI, played at Port of Spain on 22 July. Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian side fell one over short of the target while bowling second. The hosts came pretty close while chasing a 309-run target but India survived by three runs and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill smashed half-centuries for Team India and Mohammed Siraj took two wickets while defending fifteen runs in the last over.

According to the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, the players are fined 20% of the match fee for every over they fail to complete in the allotted time. Richie Richardson of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees sanctioned this fine on the Indian team after skipper Dhawan pleaded guilty and accepted the punishment. So there was no need for any formal hearing which would have consisted of on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Gregory Brathwaite and fourth umpire Nigel Duguid.

India were also fined recently during rescheduled England Test

Indian red-ball side was punished with 40% of the match fee and a two-point deduction in the World Test Championship (WTC) table, over a slow over-rate in the rescheduled fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston earlier this month. Jasprit Bumrah led the team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma as India lost the match by seven wickets.

India slipped to the fourth position in the WTC table after the deduction and the management needed to address this recurring issue after. But it looks like the Indian team is failing to maintain the over rate when defending a big total.

Former Australian great Ian Chappell lashed out at ICC rules over slow over rate, which he thinks are not strict enough. He believes that the captain should be banned from the next match over the slow run rate as a deduction in the match fee is not enough to get the players’ attention.