ICC Punishes Pakistan; Slaps Heavy Fine After World Cup Defeat vs India

Jay Shah and Fatima Sana - (Source: AFP)In a significant development, Pakistan's Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign has gone from bad to worse. Notably, the Fatima Sana-led side started the ongoing edition with a heavy defeat against India, and now the ICC has also punished the Women in Green.ICC’s punishment comes two days after India women handed Pakistan a 64-run defeat to extend their head-to-head lead to 7-3 in the Women’s World Cup. India snatched a win out of the jaws of defeat and rode on Deepti Sharma’s fifer to reduce Pakistan from 38/0 to 106/10.ICC Fines Pakistan For Slow Over-RateNotably, Pakistan was maintaining a slow over-rate against India, and it has caught the ICC’s attention. The apex cricket council has found Fatima Sana’s team to be guilty of that offence. As a punishment, the entire team has been handed a 5% fine from their match fees.Trudy Anderson of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Pakistan were ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.ICC Rules For Slow Over-RateFatima Sana was found guilty of breaching the Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. Also Read: Nasser Hussain Rants Against BCCI; Takes A Stand For PakistanNotably, any team that is found guilty of maintaining a slow over-rate, are only allowed to place 4 fielders outside the circle for the last 2 overs, which is actually very advantageous for the batting first because they get to score runs more freely.Pakistan's Slow Over-Rate Played A Massive Role In The MatchTalking about the recently concluded India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match, the Women in Green's slow over-rate actually helped India. Notably, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side got off to a poor start.India lost two early wickets and Smriti Mandhana-Harmanpreet Kaur resurrected the innings. However, the Women in Blue were still far from a respectable total on the board. Eventually, Richa Ghosh utlisied the slow over-rate.For the unversed, Ghosh slammed a quickfire 34 (17) and collected 24 runs in the last 10 balls, which actually helped India put 170 runs on the board. Interestingly, it played a big factor in the match because Pakistan got off to a brilliant start.As mentioned above, Pakistan were 38/0 at one point and had Richa not played that knock, India would have finished around 150. Which means that Pakistan wouldn't have rushed the chase.It was due to the slow over-rate that the Fatima Sana-led side rushed the target and eventually collapsed like a house of cards and India registered a comfortable 64 run win.Also Read: Arshdeep Singh Defended By Punjab Kings Star For Racist Remark Against Tilak Varma