Jigar Saraswat The head coach and Test captain have ignored the referee’s direct threat of docking WTC points.
India defeated England at The Oval by six runs with the leadership of head coach Gautam Gambhir and Test captain Shubman Gill. However, the two prioritised victory over ICC over-rate penalties. The ICC match referee has now given a direct threat of docking WTC points, but the two have ignored it.
The ICC match referee threatens to deduct WTC points.
India’s win against England, as per reports, now comes with an interesting back-story on how head coach Gautam Gambhirand captain Shubman Gill reportedly chose to defy the ICC match referee’s warning about World Test Championship (WTC) points being deducted for slow over rate in pursuit of a memorable win. On the final day of the Test, England needed only 35 runs with four wickets in hand, while India required those final breakthroughs to level the series 2-2. As per a Dainik Jagran report, match referee Jeff Crowe clearly sent a message to the Indian camp that they were six overs behind the required rate before the start of the final day’s play. The 5th Test was India’s opening series in the new WTC cycle, and after missing out on last year’s final, every point carried significant weight.
Gambhir on the match referee’s warning.
Gambhir took a bold stand on the same. He reportedly said, “I don’t care about the over rate. If we lose four points, so be it. We are playing to win.” Shubman Gill backed his coach, and they decided that fast bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj would continue attacking from both ends, regardless of over-rate penalties.
With the recent win, India sits 3rd in the WTC standingsbehind Australia and Sri Lanka, while the result further cements Gambhir’s no-compromise, aggressive coaching style.
