The IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test has shaped up to be pretty interesting with Australia reasserting themselves to take their lead to 333 runs after a period of play that saw India pull off a spirited effort with the ball led by none other than the modern-day phenomenon Jasprit Bumrah. The premier pacer got to 200 Test wickets and had Australia reeling at 91/6 only for partnerships betweem Pat Cummins and Marnus Labuschagne and later Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon to shift the momentum of the game. Heading into Day 5, all three results are possible. But at the end of Day 4, talk of India being slapped with a penalty for slow over-rate arose. Let's take a look. ICC WTC 2023–25 Final Qualification Scenarios Explained: Here’s What India, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa Need To Do To Qualify for World Test Championship Summit Clash.

Fans on social media started to talk about the probability of India facing an over-rate penalty after Australia batted out more than 80 overs in their second innings on Day 4 of the IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. As mentioned before, this was largely possible due to two partnerships that yielded in excess of 50 runs.

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Will Indian Cricket Team Be Handed Over-Rate Penalty?

According to the ICC rules, every team is required to bowl a minimum of 15 overs per hour in Test cricket and given that six hours of play is expected on each day, the total number of overs to be bowled is set at 90 overs. However, there are certain allowances under which teams might not be fined if they fail to bowl 90 overs in a day. These include time lost to players' injuries, time taken for third umpire referrals and also factors that are not in the control of the fielding team like inclement weather among other things.

Check ICC's Over-Rate Rules Here:

The ICC's rules also state that if a fielding team is able to bowl out the opposition within 80 overs. This was 60 overs earlier but the ICC had a change to it in 2023. Also, if a fielding side is able to bowl out the batting team twice and also bowl less than 160 overs in both innings combined, they will face no sanction. On Day 4, a total of 85.3 overs were bowled out of which 3.3 were bowled by Australia and the rest 82 by India. However, it has not been confirmed if India will be sanctioned due to slow over-rate. The umpires, at the end of the match, will calculate the over-rate, analysing the fielding teams' performance in this regard across both batting innings. ICC World Test Championship 2023–25 Points Table Updated.

Will an Over-Rate Penalty Impact India's WTC Chances?

An Over-Rate Penalty is charged when a team is found to have bowled less than 15 overs per hour. In such cases, the team concerned will lose one WTC (World Test Championship) point per over they have been found short of the 15-over mark. A slow over-rate will be detrimental for India's ICC WTC 2023-25 final hopes. Rohit Sharma and co sit third on the ICC WTC 2023-25 standings and behind South Africa and Australia and losing point/s due to slow over-rate can even signal the end of India's hopes as well.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 29, 2024 03:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).