Ravi Shastri Jabs Ben Stokes After England Captain Accepts ICC Punishment for Slow Over Rate

England Captain Accepts ICC Punishment for Slow Over Rate: Ravi Shastri poked Ben Stokes after he accepted the sanctions on England for slow over rate in the third Test at Lord’s. England were docked 2 World Test Championship points and each player was fined 10% of their match fee for slow over rate in the third Test at Lord’s. Stokes pleaded guilty and accepted the sanctions without a hearing.

Shastri said it should hurt England as it was the same thing that prevented Australia from playing in the inaugural WTC final against India.

"It hurts, as Australia found out in the first cycle of WTC. They had a slower over rate against India and it cost them the second place. New Zealand qualified for that final. You've got to be fully aware of all this," Shastri told ICC.

Notably this is not the first time England were docked WTC points. They lost most points in the previous cycle of WTC due to slow over rate and hence were never in contention to make the final. Currently England are 3rd on the WTC points table behind Sri Lanka and Australia.

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Shastri said if Stokes can inspire his team to win matches like he did at Lord’s with a Player of the Match performance then they won’t have to worry about the over rate.

"There will be certain games where they will probably make up for it but I think more than that, more than the over rate, you have to think of winning. If you focus on winning, in the last six months, you can probably try to adjust. See how you would get those two points back. But, you've got to win. That's more important. If you keep winning, that won't matter," he added.

The hosts won the series 2-1 with a 22 run win but were 2 overs short of the target in a match where the Dukes ball went out of shape several times and had to be replaced.

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"England captain Ben Stokes pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing," the International Cricket Council said in a statement.

Players lose 5% of their match fee for every over their team fails to bowl in the allotted time. It also costs the team 1 WTC point.

England slipped from 2nd to 3rd in the WTC table behind Sri Lanka after the points deduction. Australia who completed a 3-0 sweep of West Indies this week are leading the table in the new 2025-2027 cycle.

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