India vs Australia: Indian players fined for maintaining slow over-rate

India vs Australia: Indian players fined for maintaining slow over-rate

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

Team India has been fined 20% of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate during the first ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The issue of the over-rate was raised by a plethora of fans, pundits and cricketers as India took over four hours to complete their innings when in actuality, just over 3 and a half hours is allotted for the same.

Following the match, Steve Smith who won the Man of the Match award for his century stated that the match seemed to go on forever. “The game went all day, longest 50-over game I’ve had, for sure. Don’t know what to put that down to. Obviously, a few people came on to the field in India’s innings and that took a bit of time. They (India) went 45 minutes over time above schedule, we were similar. Don’t know why; it certainly felt like a long time,” Smith told reporters.

‘India’s over rate is appalling’ – Michael Vaughan

Following India’s 66-run loss at the hands of Australia in the first ODI, former England captain Michael Vaughan stated that India’s over rate was appalling. He took to Twitter to express his views and also predicted that Australia would emerge victorious in all three formats of the game in the tour.

The tweet read, “India’s over rate is appalling … !!! Body language defensive … fielding is my standard (shocking) … Bowling ordinary !!! Aussies on the other hand have been outstanding … Long tour for India me thinks.”

Also Read: Michael Vaughan on India’s issue with all-rounders