India vs England: England opened their first innings in the Rajkot Test on 5 for 0, after India received a five-run penalty for R Ashwin running on the protected area of the pitch while batting during the first session of day two.
India had already earned their first and last warning when Ravindra Jadeja was warned for running in the protected area on the opening day of the third Test.
According to the law, the protected area is “that area of the pitch contained within a rectangle bounded at each end by imaginary lines parallel to the popping creases and 5 ft/1.52 m in front of each, and on the sides by imaginary lines, one each side of the imaginary line joining the centres of the two middle stumps, each parallel to it and 1 ft/30.48 cm from it”.
The penalty runs were awarded to England in the 102nd over of India’s first innings, when Ashwin pushed the ball towards cover and went down the pitch before being returned by Dhruv Jurel. Umpire Joel Wilson spoke with Ashwin, who was furious at being punished, before signalling the penalty runs.
Ashwin later stated at a press conference that he was aware of the umpires’ previous warnings, but that his “poor motor skills” got in the way of him leaving the pitch.
“They clearly warned some of our batters yesterday for running on the pitch,” Ashwin went on to say. “I was aware of it, but my poor motor skills prevented me from leaving the pitch on time. If the English media and players believe it was on design, it was not, if that is how you interpret it. I don’t think that pitch is breaking because I ran on some spikes that are really tiny, like wafer-thin. I went to Joel and Kumar [Dharmasena, umpire] and explained that it was just a matter of insufficient motor skills. If I had been better, I would have competed in the Olympics. “Why play cricket?”
Former England skipper Alastair Cook believes it could have been Ashwin’s premeditated, tactical move. “Is this deliberate? “Yes, it is,” Cook told TNT Sports. “It’s a tactical move to disrupt the middle of the wicket because Ashwin wants as much assistance as possible when he can deliver. Normally, it occurs in the third inning. You’re 150-200 runs up and you say, ‘Just make sure you get up and down the wicket’… that was gamesmanship, wasn’t it?”
Law 41.14, which deals with batters harming the pitch, specifies that “it is unfair to cause deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch.” If a striker enters the protective area while playing or attacking the ball, he or she must quickly leave it. A batter shall be considered to be inflicting avoidable damage if each umpire believes his or her presence on the pitch is without reasonable cause.
“If either batter commits deliberate or preventable damage to the pitch, except as provided in 41.15, the umpire who witnesses the violation must notify the other umpire when the ball is dead. The bowler’s end umpire will then warn both batters that the practice is unfair and state that this is the first and last warning. This warning will apply throughout the innings. The umpire must advise each incoming batter, the fielding captain, and, as soon as possible, the batting captain, of what has happened.
“If any batter causes any additional deliberate or unnecessary damage to the pitch during that innings, the umpire who witnesses the violation must notify the other umpire when the ball is dead.
“The bowler’s end umpire shall disallow all runs to the batting side, return any not out batter to his/her original end, signal no-ball or wide to the scorers if applicable, and award 5 penalty runs to the fielding side.”
India was 358 for 7 at the time of the event, having lost both overnight batsmen Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the first hour of play on the second morning. The five-Test series is tied at 1-1, with England winning the opening match in Hyderabad and India drawing level in Visakhapatnam.
