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5 Runs Penalty In Cricket Today; Why Will England Start With 5/0 In IND Vs ENG Rajkot Test?

image-lsoabrywJoe Wilson handed England five runs [X.com]

England earned a headstart to their first-innings in the Rajkot Test without even taking their bats on to the middle after a bizarre incident on Day 2 of the third Test against India this Friday (February 16). The visitors will start off with 5 runs on the board without a ball bowled by the hosts when they come out in response to the Indian innings after being handed a five-run gift by umpire Joe Wilson. 

Those five runs were awarded to England during the pre-lunch session when India were striving to extend their stint in the middle with lower-order men R Ashwin and Dhruv Jurel batting in the 102nd over of the innings. Facing leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, Ashwin tapped the ball to the off-side and sought a quick single with his partner, which he refused.

Ashwin, who had committed to the single, managed to backtrack inside his crease. However, the experienced head made the instinctive error of running down the ground with his spikes on. As umpire Wilson spotted the error on time, he penalised Ashwin for running on the center of the pitch and making a deliberate attempt to worsen the playing surface.


Why England Will Start 5/0 In Rajkot Test?

Ashwin was soon seen arguing with the standing official that his mistake was merely instinctive and that he perhaps hadn't stepped too far down the ground anyway. 

However, Wilson quickly checked the replay on the big screen at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Saurashtra and gauged that Ashwin had indeed stepped too far down the ground before jumping across to the off-side.

The umpire went by the ICC regulations and handed England five runs by penalising the Indian team on Ashwin's error, something the great off-spinner was seemingly annoyed over and kept trying to tell the umpire to see his side of the story. But Wilson didn't budge and assessed it as an act of tampering with the pitch.

England would've offered a wry smile at the incident, as it gave them five easy runs before even starting off their innings in the Rajkot Test against an Indian attack expected to make run-scoring difficult for them in the middle.