Team India on Thursday were slapped with 5 penalty runs for running in the middle of the pitch even after receiving a warning from the on-field umpires. The incident happened on the second day of the ongoing Rajkot Test Ravichandran Ashwin ran on the protected area of the pitch during in the 102nd over of the Indian innings. Since the umpires have already issued a warning on the opening day of the game, to Ravindra Jadeja, another attempt of running on the middle of the pitch handed five runs to England to start their innings with.
Meanwhile, former England captain Alastair Cook has responded to Ashwin’s act that had cost India 5 penalty runs. Speaking on TNT Sports, Cook claimed that it was a deliberate attempt by Ashwin to run on the protected area.
“Is it deliberate? Yes, it is. It’s a tactical ploy that you can disturb the middle of the wicket because Ashwin wants as much help (as possible) when he can bowl,” Cook said on TNT Sports.
“Normally, it happens in the third innings. You’re 150-200 runs ahead and you think, ‘just make sure you get up and down the wicket’… that was gamesmanship there, wasn’t it?”
As per MCC law, the protected area is “that area of the pitch contained within a rectangle bounded at each end by imaginary lines parallel to the popping creases and 5 ft/1.52 m in front of each, and on the sides by imaginary lines, one each side of the imaginary line joining the centres of the two middle stumps, each parallel to it and 1 ft/30.48 cm from it”.
The conditions at Rajkot are not exactly favourable for the bowlers and seems to be a flat track. Following India’s innings after being bowled out for 445, England went on a rampage with left-handed Ben Duckett leading the charge. He went on to race towards a fine Test century and remains unbeaten on 133 at stumps.
Ashwin on the other hand, managed to pick up the first wicket of England’s batting innings, getting rid of Zak Crawley and reaching the 500-wicket milestone as well. Siraj also chipped in, getting rid of the dangerous Ollie Pope but England is in the driver’s seat currently in the third Test.
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