Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was penalised on day two of the ongoing Rajkot Test against England for running on the protected area of the pitch. The on-field umpires had already warned the home side when Ravindra Jadeja, on day one, did the same; when this incident occurred for the second time, they penalised Ashwin – giving England an extra five-run cushion to start their innings. As a result, England’s scorecard while starting their first innings will read 5/0.

Per the law book, the protected area is referred to as, “that area of the pitch contained within a rectangle bounded at each end by imaginary lines parallel to the popping creases and 5 ft/1.52 m in front of each, and on the sides by imaginary lines, one each side of the imaginary line joining the centres of the two middle stumps, each parallel to it and 1 ft/30.48 cm from it”.

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The incident happened during the 102nd over on day two when Ashwin pushed the ball off Rehan Ahmed towards the cover and went for the run, only for him to run on the protected area. Though Dhruv Jurel sent him back, the umpires went up to Ashwin, informing him about the mistake that he had made and the repercussions that followed. 

Ashwin looked visibly upset with the umpires’ call to penalise him.

What does the rule book say?

According to the rules laid down, in Law 41.14 in this case, concerning batters damaging the pitch, “It is unfair to cause deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch. If the striker enters the protected area in playing or playing at the ball, he/she must move from it immediately thereafter. A batter will be deemed to be causing avoidable damage if either umpire considers that his/her presence on the pitch is without reasonable cause.”

“If either batter causes deliberate or avoidable damage to the pitch, other than as in 41.15, 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. The umpire shall so inform each incoming batter, inform the captain of the fielding side and, as soon as practicable, the captain of the batting side of what has occurred,” it further states.

However, India are in a comfortable position, scoring over 400 in the first innings. Captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja starred with the bat in hand, hitting respective centuries. 

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