Penalty runs are awarded by the umpires on some rare occasions when the player doesn’t play according to the defined laws. Since there is no yellow or red card in Cricket like in Football, the standing umpire generally gives a warning to the concerned player before rewarding the penalty runs to the opposition. Instances like deliberately running on the pitch or faking a throw can result in penalty runs.
As these instances happen rarely on the cricket field, not everyone knows them. The players are expected to abide by the laws and if they are found guilty of not doing so, then the umpires have the power to award penalty runs.
We take a look at five instances when penalty runs were awarded:
India vs New Zealand Test match at Indore:
India posted a gargantuan score of 557 runs in the first innings of the third Test against New Zealand at Indore in 2016. The Indian captain Virat Kohli scored a double century (211) and Ajinkya Rahane scored a fine knock of 188. However, Ravindra Jadeja was found guilty of running on to the pitch twice by umpires Kumar Dharamsena and Bruce Oxenford.
It is noticed that the players sometimes deliberately run in the middle of the pitch so that it breaks down quickly for them and thus it can help their bowlers in their bowling innings. Ergo, New Zealand started their innings from 5-0 but lost the Test match by 321 runs.