India were penalized with a hefty fine for maintaining a slow over-rate in the opening ODI of the series against New Zealand, held in Hyderabad. International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced that the Indian team was fined 60 per cent of its match fee for bowling three overs short of the target.

“India were ruled to be three overs short of their target by Javagal Srinath of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. Time allowances were taken into consideration before arriving at the decision,” said ICC in a media release. As per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

“Rohit Sharma, the India captain, accepted the offence levelled by On-field umpires Anil Chaudhary and Nitin Menon, third umpire K N Ananthapadmanabhan and fourth umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal.” added the statement, maintaining that there was no need for a formal hearing. It is worth mentioning here that India won a tight contest against New Zealand by 12 runs in the first ODI that witnessed a sensational double century from Shubman Gill and a valiant fightback, 140 off 78, from Michael Bracewell.