Pakistan have been docked eight points for maintaining a slow over-rate during the first Test against Bangladesh.
Pakistan docked eight WTC points for slow over-rate
The first Test between the sides went the distance in Mirpur as Bangladesh earned a hard-fought win on day five, thanks to speedster Nahid Rana's 5-47 in the fourth innings. It was the hosts' third consecutive Test win over Pakistan, following their 2-0 series win in Pakistan last year.
1st Test, Bangladesh vs Pakistan
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On Friday (May 15), the ICC released a statement adding to Pakistan's woes: "Pakistan have been fined 40 per cent of their match fee and penalised eight ICC World Test Championship points for maintaining a slow over-rate against Bangladesh in the first Test at Mirpur in Dhaka.
"Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Pakistan were ruled to be eight overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
"In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
"In addition, as per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short. Consequently, eight World Test Championship points have been deducted from Pakistan’s points total.
"Pakistan captain Shan Masood pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing."
Pakistan hit with second-largest over-rate penalty in WTC Tests
Eight points is a significant blow to Pakistan's chances in the 2025-27 WTC cycle; from three matches so far, they had earned 12 points via a solitary win. This deduction has pushed them back down to four points, and a points percentage of 11.11 per cent – second from bottom, only above West Indies.
Eight points is also the second-largest deduction for a single Test in the WTC era. During the 2023 Ashes series, England were docked nine points for the Lord's Test. They were also hit with an eight-point penalty during the Gabba Test of December 2021 against Australia.
Notably, Pakistan fell behind in Mirpur despite sending down 49 overs of spin, out of 187.4 in total (26.1 per cent). In England's eight- and nine-point deductions, they bowled 17.4 per cent and four per cent of overs through spinners respectively.
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