Rahane calls for strict over-rate punishment after Gaikwad-led ROI’s shenanigans

On October 5 (Saturday), Ajinkya Rahane led Mumbai to their first Irani Cup title since 1997/98. After posting 537 runs on the board batting first, Mumbai were able to secure a healthy first innings lead of 121 and that eventually proved to be enough.

However, the contest itself was played at snail’s pace thanks to some shenanigans from Rest of India. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side bowled only 68 overs on Day 1 and then 70 overs on Day 2. A grand total of just 38 overs were bowled on the final day of the clash when Mumbai were batting in the second innings despite play extending well beyond lunch, close to two sessions.

Frustrated with ROI’s unprofessionalism, Rahane called for strict over-rate punishments in domestic cricket in the aftermath of the clash.

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

The former India skipper reckoned that deducting runs from the team’s total can be an effective ploy to stop sides from wasting time with the ball.

“If they start penalising the team by 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 play,” Rahane said.

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here.