In 2024 U19 World Cup ICC's new over-rate rule that denied India vs Pakistan final
The captain of Pakistan cricket team Saa dBaig was a busy man on Thursday evening at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, rearranging his fields constantly and changing his bowlers in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal match against Australia. While it came with a reward of Pakistan bouncing back strongly, riding on a four-wicket haul from Ali Raza, it had an unintended consequence before the start of the final over, when the team needed to defend four runs or pick one wicket to win. The new rule of ICC forced Baig to adhere to the conditions and Pakistan lost by one wicket, thus losing an opportunity to book a date with India in the final.
Having previously introduced the penalty for slow over rates in T20I cricket, ICC had established an in-match penalty rule in ODIs in late 2022. According to the rule, for every over the fielding team falls short of the agreed cut-off time for the innings, after considering time allowances into play, they ought to have an extra fielder inside the ring. For example, if a team completes 48 overs within the scheduled cessation time of the innings, then they will have an extra fielder inside the circle for the last two overs, leaving only four fielders outside the ring.