India started their batting innings at 5/0 after being awarded five penalty runs during their third and final ODI of the series against Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This came after the visitors were hit with five penalty runs for running on the danger area of the pitch during the first innings.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi ran on the danger zone multiple times. He was given multiple warnings for his act, once in the 21st over and then again in the 31st over during his valiant century against the Men in Blue.ย
Shahidi was then given another warning, this time at the end of the 40th over. He ran into the danger zone after setting off for a single against Washington Sundar as he changed strikes with Rashid Khan. However, the Afghans were denied the single due to the running breach, and they were hit with five penalty runs. This turned out to be the reason India began at 5/0 when Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal came out to bat.
What does the rule say?
As per the MCC law 41.14.2, if the batters “cause deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch”, “at the first instance the umpire seeing the contravention shall, when the ball is dead, inform the other umpire of the occurrence. The bowler’s end umpire shall then warn both batters that the practice is unfair and indicate that this is a first and final warning. This warning shall apply throughout the innings.”
However, according to law 41.14.3, “if there is any further instance of deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch by any batter in that innings, the umpire seeing the contravention shall, when the ball is dead, inform the other umpire of the occurrence.
“The bowler’s end umpire shall disallow all runs to the batting side and return any not out batter to his/her original end signal. No ball or Wide to the scorers if applicable. Award 5 Penalty runs to the fielding side. award any other 5-run Penalty that is applicable except for Penalty runs under Law 28.3 (Protective helmets belonging to the fielding side).”
Shahidi slams maiden century
Shahidi created history as he became the first Afghanistan captain to hit a hundred against India in any format. The 31-year-old slammed a stellar and a fighting century in the third ODI, which was also his first hundred in the format. The Southpaw had a fifty against India as skipper, having hit an 80 in the ODI World Cup 2023 in Delhi. After Shahidi, Ibrahim Zadran had also scored a half ton as captain against India during a T20I against the Men in Blue in January 2024.
But no Afghanistan skipper could have hit a hundred against the mighty Indian team until Shahidi. He slammed a fighting knock of 102 from 131 balls, braving the Indian bowling line-up and the scorching Chennai heat. He was down with multiple cramps at the back end of the innings and needed a physio’s attention before continuing.
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