India and Australia slapped with heavy fines for maintaining slow over rates during WTC final
World Test Championship (WTC) finalists India and Australia have been hit with heavy fines by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for maintaining a slow over rate upon the culmination of the one-off contest at The Oval.
Winners of the contest, Australia, have been fined 80 percent of their match fees while runners-up Team India have been fined the entirety of their match fees. The teams struggle to bowl the 90 overs in a day over the course of the contest which ended on Day 5.
The ruling was confirmed shortly after the match by the officials, with Team India falling five overs short of the target after taking time allowances into consideration. The Aussies, on the other hand, were found to be four overs short of the target. According to the ICC guidelines, players will be fined 20 percent of their match fees for every over that the team fails to bowl in the allotted time.
This marked the first instance where the Pat Cummins-led side were found guilty of slow over rate over the course of the entire second cycle of the WTC cycle. India, meanwhile, were deducted five points for their numerous over-rate breaches in the two-year period.
Shubman Gill fined 15 percent of his match fees for criticizing umpire's decision during WTC final
A huge moment in the fourth innings of the WTC final came in the form of Shubman Gill's controversial dismissal. Chasing a mammoth 444-run target, Team India were in desperate need of a solid start, which Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma provided.
Gill then edged one as Cameron Green claimed a brilliant catch stationed at the slips and the decision was sent upstairs with no soft signal given by the on-field umpires. Third umpire Richard Kettleborough adjudged Gill out, leading to the batter posting a story on his Instagram account, expressing his frustration over the decision.
As a result, Gill has been fined 15 percent of his match fee for breaching article 2.7 which relates to public criticism or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match.
Should the ICC introduce some form of on-field penalty for slow over rates in Tests? Let us know what you think.