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Why Did England Start Their Innings in Third Test Against India at 5/0?
England started their first inning in the Rajkot Test against India with 5/0 on the board. Read on to know the reason.
It was surprising for everybody to see the scoreboard at 5/0 when England started their inning, without even facing a single ball. The visiting team grabbed this advantage because of the penalty received by India after there was interference in the protected area of the pitch twice by Indian batters.
The penalty was imposed in the 102nd over of India’s first inning when Ravichandran Ashwin stepped over the protected area while running back to the crease after he was denied a run by Dhruv Jurel.
This was the second instance when an Indian batter stepped on the protected area as Ravindra Jadeja had earlier made the same mistake on the first day of the Test receiving the first and final warning from the umpire. Thus, India had already drained their quota of warnings and hence, 5 runs were awarded to England for violating the law.
What does the law state about the damage of the pitch?
The law describes the protected area of the pitch 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.”
Law 41.4, which deals with the damage of pitch by any batter, states, "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.
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, return any not out batter to his/her original end, signal no-ball or wide to the scorers if applicable, and award 5 penalty runs to the fielding side."
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Team India’s first inning in the third Test
Team India posted 445 on the board at the end of the first inning with skipper Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja hitting a century each while debutant Sarfaraz Khan smashed a blazing half-century. The match started on a dull note for India when they lost 3 wickets with just 33 on the board but thanks to a solid partnership by skipper Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, the team received stability and went on to post a solid total on the board.
Sarfaraz Khan, who made his debut on Thursday, was exceptional with the bat as he smashed 62 runs off just 66 balls with 9 fours and 1 six. His father, who made a significant contribution to his cricketing career, and his wife were also present in the stadium to witness his debut Test performance. They also got emotional when Sarfaraz received his debut Test cap as cameras captured them in tears.
