Gautam Gambhir's strong response after India were warned of WTC points penalty on Day 5 of final Test against England

Team India scripted a historic win against England at the Oval to draw the series 2-2 on Monday. In a thrilling final day, India needed four wickets to win, while England needed just 35 runs. Pacers Prasidh Krishna and Mohamme Siraj bowled for an entire hour on the fifth day to claim four wickets and give India a six-run win.

However, what panned out before the start of the big day was that India was given a warning from match referee Jeff Crowe, saying the team will be deducted of four World Test Championship (WTC) points because their over-rate was slow by six overs, according to a Dinik Jagran report citing team sources.

The options were simple, either India took the England wickets or they needed to improve their over-rate to avoid the point penalty. Every point in WTC counts.


A member reportedly suggested that spinners should be used from both ends as they would take lesser time to complete the over and the penalty will be avoided.

However, Gambhir was keen on a win and said that the team should not think of over-rate. Gambhir's decision was vindicated and India did not get any penalty too.

Currently, India are third in the WTC points table behind Australia and Sri Lanka. The top two team will qualify for the 2025-2027 WTC final.