Penalise teams with runs for slow over-rates, says Ajinkya Rahane

Cream of Indian First Class cricket showcased in Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, but slow over-rates prompt calls for run penalties.

Cream of Indian First Class cricket was on display during the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Cup. While the quality of cricket lived up to its billing for most of the last month, the pace at which the games trudged along – with no captain or team appearing to be serious about adhering to prescribed over-rate – was a dampener.

Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane – a veteran of 85 Test caps – has called for imposition of run penalty to curb the over-rate menace in domestic cricket.

“The one factor was the heat. It was really hot, so we have to think about the players as well but I feel because there is no penalty for the overs short... if they start penalising the team by the number of runs for every over that the fielding team is short by, for instance 12 runs for one over, 24 for two and so on and it should be added after every day’s player,” Rahane said after leading Mumbai to its 15th Irani Cup win.

The over-rate in the Irani Cup was so bad that the game was brought to a standstill on multiple occasions.

If the first two days saw RoI – led by Ruturaj Gaikwad – bowling 68 and 70 overs, respectively, the last day’s play was the most bizarre. With RoI in no rush and Mumbai batters employing time-wasting tactics to ensure a draw, only 38 overs were bowled on the last day in 240 minutes before the teams shook hands.

At the moment, the fielding captain and his team face monetary sanctions – 10 to 50% of the match-fee for the team and 20 to 100% for the captain – in domestic cricket. For time-wasting also, the batting, too, side faces monetary and disciplinary sanctions.

“I always believe that players should maintain that discipline. They should play within the rules. But at the moment there is no penalty, so I cannot comment too much about the rules. Whoever is managing domestic cricket, I feel if they can add a strict run penalty, it will be a huge thing.”