T20 World Cup 2024: Former India star slams ICC for awarding five penalty runs to Men in Blue against USA

International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded five penalty runs to India in their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 match against the United States of America on Wednesday.

The incident happened before the start of the 16th over of India’s run chase. On-field umpire Paul Reiffel informed USA stand-in skipper Aaron Jones that his team couldn’t complete three overs on time, and according to the rule, five runs were added to the total of the batting side.

India were 76/3 in 15 overs, and the score became 81 without a ball being bowled in a new over. A team is given one minute between the overs, and if more time is consumed on a few occasions, the fielding side is sanctioned in the form of a five-run penalty.

However, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed ICC for the development. He criticised ICC for complicating things. According to him, such rules shouldn’t exist and the game should be kept simple.

"I don’t understand why five runs were awarded to Team India. This went in their favor today, but it could go against them in a future game. The ICC is introducing new rules every now and then, and no one is even aware of them. There are other ways to control the flow of the game. Earlier, the over rate was calculated on the basis of the allotted time for one innings but now you have kept the time limit for one over. I don’t get it," said Bhajji.

The former India star also slammed ICC again for the controversial dead ball rule that resulted in Bangladesh’s defeat against South Africa.