ICC deducted WTC points of Australia and England

The ICC, the apex governing body of cricket, recently punished Australia and England for the slow over rate during the Ashes 2023. Ashes was also the beginning of both teams third season of WTC (2022–25), and just after the Ashes, they were penalized by the ICC by deducting some points from the points earned after winning the matches in the series. Australia lose 10 WTC points for being 10 overs short in the fourth test of the Ashes, which ended in a draw due to a heavy downpour, whereas England lose 19 WTC points for being slow in relatively all test matches except the third one.

India and Pakistan have started their WTC journey quite well because both of them won their first Test series. Pakistan won their first test series of the WTC (2023–25) against Sri Lanka, and India also had a good start as the team blue won the test series against the West Indies by 1-0. Pakistan is at the top of the table of WTC points with 100% PCT after a clean sweep victory over Sri Lanka, while Rohit Sharma and Co. is at the second spot with 66.66% WTC percentage of points.

According to new ICC rules, a team would get penalized for every over they fell short of (keeping every hindrance such as rain or injury during the match). For every item not delivered, one point will be deducted. That’s why, even after winning the exact same number of matches, both teams are in different spots in the WTC points table. As of now, Australia is in the third position, and England is in the fifth position, just behind the West Indies, who have yet to win a test match.

Of course, the points deduction system by the ICC didn’t go well with the players and netizens, who criticized the ICC for such rules.