India players have been fined 20 per cent of their match fees from the first ODI against Australia due to their slow over rates at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday.
The Men in Blue took an unprecedented four hours and six minutes to complete their stipulated 50 overs during a 66-run defeat in the series opener.
Match referee David Boon imposed the sanction after Virat Kohli & Co. was found one over short in the permissible time. On-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Rod Tucker, third umpire Paul Reiffel and fourth umpire Gerard Abood levelled the charges on the tourists.
“In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time,” the ICC said in a statement.
“Skipper Virat Kohli pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing,” the release added.
In the post-game interview, ‘Player of the Match’ Steve Smith also revealed that it was the longest 50-over contest he had ever been a part of.
“It was the longest 50 overs in the field I’ve ever had, that’s for sure,” Smith said. “I don’t know what to put that down to. Obviously, a few people came on the field in the first innings which took a bit of time and I think they (India) went 45 minutes over the scheduled time and we were something similar.”
The second ODI of the three-match series will be played at the same venue on Sunday (November 29).
With PTI inputs
