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India 'Penalised 5 Runs' In Rajkot After R Ashwin Runs On The Middle Of Pitch

image-lso8u5hbAshwin (AP Photos)

R. Ashwin's unexpected error led to a penalty of five runs being handed to India on Day 2 of the Rajkot Test against England. While batting with command and elegance in the middle for a crucial innings at No. 9 in the pre-lunch session, the capable lower-order bat made the big mistake of running on the middle of the cricket pitch at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium. 

The incident happened in the 102nd over of the Indian first-innings. Facing England wristspinner Rehan Ahmed's conventional leg-break, Ashwin tapped the ball to the off-side and urged his partner and debutant Dhruv Jurel for a hopeless single. 

Recognising the run wasn't available on time, Ashwin backtracked inside the crease. However, the India legend made an instinctive error of running straight in line with the stumps for those extra few steps, something umpire Joel Wilson spotted. 


R Ashwin's Error Hands England Five Runs 

Moments later, Wilson spoke to Ashwin about the error, and the two indulged in an argument. Ashwin seemingly told the standing official that he hadn't run too far down the ground and that it was an instinctive mistake anyway. However, the umpire didn't budge.

For Wilson, it was an attempt at worsening the track deliberately and according to the playing rules, he imposed a penalty of five runs, which meant that England were handed five runs without even starting their innings. 



The regulations don't allow for five runs to be slashed from the batting team's tally but gives the opposition team five extra runs at the start of their effort if a player is found running on the pitch with intentions of worsening the surface. 

Ashwin argued he wasn't trying to disrupt the nature of the track and merely instinctively fell an extra step or two down the ground with his weight going forward in the quest to run the single.