Pakistan Test team has got 99 problems and, as much as they would have wished it was not, losing points for maintaining slow-over rates has become one of them. After the conclusion of the Rawalpindi Test, match referee Ranjan Madugalle found Pakistan six overs short of the time allowance adjusted target. According to Article 16.11.2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) playing conditions, one point is docked for each lost over. This means the men in green have lost six points from their already scanty points kitty.
The visitors, also, could not do justice to the required over rate and fell three overs short of the target, as a result, lost three points. In addition to points docking, players from both teams have been fined 5% of their match fee for each over owing to the same reason. This means, Pakistan players will have to give up 30% of their match fees while Bangladesh will lose 15%.
Although for Bangladesh this points docking incident is a first in this WTC cycle, Pakistan have already once been penalized for maintaining a slow-over rate. During the first Test match against Australia last year, the Pakistan team fell short of a couple of overs and were consequently docked two points on the WTC table. Interestingly, Pakistan had fielded an all-pace attack in that Test match as well. The recently concluded Test match brings their docked points tally to 8, which is the third highest for teams participating in this Test Championship. England with 19 docked points remain at the top while their arch-rivals, Australia, at second place, have lost 8 points to slow-over rates.
These lost points will not budge Pakistan from their second to last position on the table. But it turns out Bangladesh are not as lucky. Losing three points has caused them to slip from 6th to 7th position.
After Pakistan’s disgraceful 10-wicket defeat to Bangladesh on Saturday, many criticized the management’s decision to play an all-pace attack on a pitch that behaved tremendously different from how they expected it to. Playing a front-line spinner could really have decreased Pakistan’s chances of losing so many points since the skipper would have a choice to turn to in order to avoid getting penalized for something as avoidable as bowling at a slow rate.
The match referee also handed Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan a demerit point for intentionally throwing a ball towards Mohammad Rizwan and Litton Das. On the fifth day of the opening Test match, Rizwan pulled out of a Shakib delivery. Frustrated at this, Shakib threw the ball over Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batter’s head and was instantly reprimanded by the on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough. As per Article 2.9 of the ICC code of conduct, this is a Level 1 breach which is punished with a solitary demerit point.
If this demerit point is accompanied by another three or more within a period of 24 months, the said player will start receiving suspension points. As the name suggests, these can see a player out of the team depending on how many he has accumulated.
This demerit point will be automatically removed from the Bangladesh all-rounder’s record after a period of 24 months.
