Why was Team India handed a five-run penalty against England?
India were slapped with a five-run penalty on Day 2 of the third Test against England in Rajkot. It happened in the 102nd over when Ravichandran Ashwin ran down the middle of the pitch. The action saw umpire Joel Wilson handing a five-run penalty to India for 'unfair play'. The umpires had already warned Ravindra Jadeja on Day 1 for similar action.
Deliberate damage to the pitch falls under 'Unfair Play'
As per MCC's law 41.14.1, "It is unfair to cause deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch. If the striker enters the protected area in playing or playing at the ball, he/she must move from it immediately thereafter. A batter will be deemed to be causing avoidable damage if either umpire considers that his/her presence on the pitch is without reasonable cause."
India received the first and final warning on Day 1
The penalty was handed because the action happened for the second time in the same innings. The umpires had warned Jadeja to run down the middle of the pitch. Notably, it was the first and final warning for the hosts. Therefore, when Ashwin repeated that offense, Wilson had no other option but to hand a five-run penalty to India as per the law.
Here's the law for the penalty
As per the law, "If there is any further instance of deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch by any batter in that innings, the umpire seeing the contravention shall inform the other umpire. The bowler's end umpire shall disallow all runs to the batting side, return any not-out batter to his/her original end and award five penalty runs to the fielding side."
India compiled 445 in the first innings
Batting first, India were 33/3 before Rohit Sharma and Jadeja stitched a 204-run partnership. Both the batters slammed hundreds. Later, Sarfaraz Khan was impressive on debut with his 62. Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel added 77 runs as India compiled a total of 445 in the first innings, with Jasprit Bumrah also chipping in with 26 runs. Mark Wood starred for England with 4/114.
