Explained: The slow over-rate penalty that forced India and Pakistan to make fielding changes
Explained: The slow over-rate penalty that forced India and Pakistan to make fielding changes
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India got their Asia Cup campaign off to a victorious start with a five-wicket victory over Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, thanks to an all-round effort from Hardik Pandya as well as vital contributions from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli.
Bhuvneshwar’s 4/26 and Pandya’s 3/25 helped bowl Pakistan out for 147 after India skipper Rohit won the toss and opted to bat. The Men in Blue, in reply, got off to a nervy start as debutant Naseem Shah castled opener KL Rahul for a golden duck in the very first over, bringing back flashbacks of India’s disastrous start in last year’s T20 World Cup encounter at the very same venue.
India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2022: Nonchalant Pandya shines brightest amid a galaxy of stars
Rohit and Kohli, however, steadied the innings with a 49-run second-wicket stand before the rock-solid Indian middle order took over. Pandya forged a vital 52-run stand with Jadeja for the fifth wicket and took the game deep before finishing things off in style with a six over long-on off Mohammad Nawaz’s bowling.
There were many moments from the thrilling clash that stood out to the public eye — from Pandya’s match-winning six and a superb opening spell from Naseem to some lusty blows off Kohli’s bat that was indicative of a batter slowly regaining his touch.
There was also the issue of both teams failing to complete their quota of overs within the stipulated time which forced them to put an extra fielder inside the circle, which would eventually prove crucial from India’s perspective in the closing stages of their run chase.
But what exactly is this rule that we saw being enforced in Match 2 of the 2022 Asia Cup? We take a detailed look at it in this explainer:
What is the slow over-rate rule?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had earlier this year implemented a rule to combat slow over-rates by teams in its T20I playing conditions.
Pakistan paying the price for the slow over rate courtesy the new rule of the ICC which is to have one less fielder outside the 30 yard circle. What a mistake to make in a big game! Sad the support staff hasn’t kept note of it.
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) August 28, 2022
According to the rule, if a team is unable to bowl the first ball of the final over by the scheduled time for the close of the innings, it will have to field an extra player inside the circle for the remainder of the innings.
The rule was officially implemented for the first time in a one-off T20I between West Indies and Ireland and the India-Pakistan clash on Sunday was the latest instance of its implementation.
Read: Hardik Pandya, in champagne form, seals win after India’s near-perfect bowling
India were just shy of the 18-over mark by the scheduled close of innings time, and thus had to bowl out the remaining two overs with five fielders inside the circle. Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh bowled the last two overs of the Pakistan innings, conceding 23 runs off 11 balls while collecting three wickets, bowling Pakistan out for 147 in 19.5 overs.
Pakistan, similarly, had bowled just 17 overs by the cut-off time, and thus had to bowl the last three overs with one fielder less manning the boundary, something that would prove expensive for them as they ended up scoring 32 off 16 balls, reaching the target with two balls to spare.
How did players react to the in-game penalty?
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that the forced fielding changes were a wake-up call for the teams.
“It is one of the points where you can win or lose the match in the last few overs. It was evenly poised but yes, we always talk about the run-rate because even in the final of the Asia Cup or in the World Cup, if this happens, we can lose the match, and that’s not the nice way to lose a match. We always address these things and definitely, this thing will be discussed in the next meeting we will have,” he said.
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