The Men In Blue have been fined 20% of their match fees by match referee David Boon as per the new ICC regulations. The first ODI between India and Australia exceeded by an hour from its expected finish.
While the Indian players were slapped with the fine, the hosts were not far behind and just managed to escape punishment. The ICC confirmed that only the visitors were fined for the slow over-rate which was accepted by Virat Kohli on the behalf of his team which turned up with a sluggish performance in Sydney.
“The fine is 20 per cent of the match fee … this has been accepted by the team India captain as well,” the ICC said.
The first ODI of the series which saw Australia secure a comfortable win ended at 11:09 PM with both of the sides playing out their entire 50 overs.
There has been speculation that the remaining ODIs will start early to avoid such an instance again, but the CA have refuted these claims. Due to the late finish, the Sydney trust had to switch off their stadium sound by 11 PM to avoid breaching the local noise bylaws.
While the Indian team experienced a brief halt in the sixth over as a result of a pitch invasion by a couple of protesters, their usage of 4 hours and 6 minutes to bowl 50 overs did not go well by fans and pundits alike.
Centurion Steve Smith also commented about the match which took up almost 9 hours to culminate.
“It felt like it went all day. That was the longest 50 overs in the field I’ve ever had,”
Both the teams will meet again at the same venue for the second ODI before moving on to Canberra to play the final ODI and the first two T20s/.
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