ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final winner Australia, and runners-up India have been fined for slow overate in the recent WTC final which was played at the Oval in London. Also fined by the ICC was India opener Shubman Gill for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, asked Australia to bat first, and they dominated the game by scoring 469 runs. Steve Smith and Travis Head both scored hundreds, and Mohammed Siraj claimed four wickets.
Only Ajinkya Rahane (89) and Shardul Thakur (51) offered some fight in the first innings total of 296 runs as a result of the Indian batting struggling. With a 173-run advantage, Australia had a good time in the second innings, scoring 270/8d and giving India a 444-run goal to reach.
India had a good start to their innings, but the wickets quickly started to tumble, and apart from Virat Kohli’s 49, Rohit Sharma’s 43, and Ajinkya Rahane’s 46, none of the other batters did much of notice as India was bowled out for 234 and lost by 209 runs.
It was confirmed after the match, that India will lose all of their match fees for their slow over rate, with Australia also docked 80 percent of their match fees.
“India were ruled to be five overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration, while Australia were found to be four overs short. In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 20 percent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time,” ICC statement said.
Shubman Gill Incurred 115 Percent Of Match Fees In Fines
On the other hand, Shubman Gill of India, apart from being fined along with the Indian team, incurred extra punishment for violating article 2.7, which deals with unacceptable comments made in public regarding an event that took place during an international match, by appearing to critique the choice to send him out on the fourth day of the Test.
The young opener was fined a further 15 percent of his match fee, meaning he will have to pay money back as part of his punishment given he has effectively incurred 115 percent of match fees in fines.