IND vs SA 2025: KL Rahul pleads guilty as India fined for slow over-rate in Raipur defeat

All Team India players who took part in the second One-Day International against South Africa at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, Raipur on Wednesday, December 3 have been fined 10 per cent each of their respective match fees. The hosts failed to keep up with the desired over-rate in the match, as a result of which, the fine was imposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

In the second match of the series, where the Indians lost, they fell short to bowl out by a couple of overs from the stipulated time, which enforced the slow-over rate charge being sanctioned upon them. Richie Richardson, the official match referee for this game, sanctioned the charge, to which the Indian captain KL Rahul did not object and plead guilty straight away. Hence, the fine was accepted without formal hearing.

“Rahul pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Rod Tucker and Rohan Pandit, third umpire Sam Nogajski and fourth umpire Jayaraman Madanagopal leveled the charge,” the ICC quoted in its media release on Monday.

Notably, maintaining a slow over-rate during any international match relates to the breach of the Article 2.2 under the ICC Code of Conduct for players and players’ support staff. For each over falling short of the target, players are charged five per cent of their respective match fees. Since KL Rahul & Co. were two overs short, they had to pay 10 per cent each of their match fees following the reprimand.

Speaking more about the match, the Raipur encounter went down to the last over, as the Proteas breached past the mammoth 359-run target in the 50th over of the run chase. The chase was anchored by Aiden Markram, whose blistering century in the second innings was the reason Indian bowlers seemed clueless on Wednesday.

“Not really a [tough one to swallow] given how much dew there is and how difficult it is to bowl in the second innings. Thought we did well in the last game. Today the umpires were nice to change the ball. Toss plays a big role so I’m kicking myself (laughs). There is always things we could have done better. With the bat, I know that 350 looks good, but that has been the chat in the dressing room even after the last game about how we can get the extra 20-25 runs to give bowlers a cushion with the wet ball,” Rahul said during the post-match presentation.