Gautam Gambhir Ignored ICC Refree's Warning At Day 5: 'I Don't Care, We Are...'
India risked losing WTC points due to a slow over-rate in the Oval Test but head coach Gautam Gambhir pushed the team to ignore that and go for the win.
India were reportedly under the serious threat of losing World Test Championship (WTC) points before the start of play on the fifth day in the Oval Test against England.
According to a report in Dainik Jagran, the match referee, Jeff Crowe, had informed the team that they were six overs behind the required over-rate and if India were to fail to bowl out England, it would result in the docking of four points. These points are crucial in ensuring a team's path to the WTC final.
India had the option to use a spinner (one from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar) from one end to mitigate the lost time and quicken the over rate. However, that would have meant allowing Jamie Overton and Jamie Smith the chance to get the remainder of the 35 runs quickly and play out the pacer from the other end, for the conditions were favoring the faster bowlers more.
However, the report said, in an emergency meeting between the team members and the staff, Gambhir announced that he 'did not care about the four points' and urged the team to go for the win. Captain Shubman Gill and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak were seemingly in agreement, and the team decided to continue with pacers Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj from both ends.
The WTC is extremely crucial to Gambhir's tenure. Last year, he took over the team in a healthy position but oversaw six losses in ten Tests and a berth in the third straight final slipped out.
In the current cycle, thanks to two wins and a draw in the five Tests, India are placed third with a points percentile (calculated by dividing total points by total available points) of 46.67. They are slightly ahead of England despite seeing the same results because Ben Stokes' team was docked four points for a slow over rate at Lord's.
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