Birmingham, September 14, 2026: Pakistan have been fined 50% of their match fees and deducted 11 points from their World Test Championship (WTC) tally for maintaining a slow over-rate during the third and final Test against England at Edgbaston.
Pakistan were found to be 11 overs short of the required rate after time allowances were taken into account during the Test, which England won by eight wickets.
Under Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their team fails to bowl within the allotted time, with the maximum penalty capped at 50%.
Meanwhile, Article 16.11.2 of the WTC playing conditions stipulates a deduction of one championship point for every over a team falls short of the required rate.
The sanctions were imposed by Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees following a charge brought by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Allahudien Palekar and fourth umpire Russell Warren.
The 11-point deduction leaves Pakistan ninth in the WTC standings with a points percentage of 4.63.
Pakistan’s next WTC assignment will be a two-match home Test series against Sri Lanka in November, with matches scheduled in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
The penalty follows a disappointing England series for Pakistan, who suffered an innings-and-103-run defeat at Headingley and a 194-run loss at Lord’s before England completed an eight-wicket victory at Edgbaston while chasing 130.
The Pakistan Cricket Board subsequently made major changes to the squad and coaching setup, releasing seven players and bringing in five uncapped players — Razaullah, Arafat Minhas, Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Imran Junior and Saad Baig. Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal also returned to the squad.
Red-ball coaches Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul were released, with white-ball coaches Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke taking charge.
Despite the series defeat, Razaullah provided a major positive on his Test debut. The pacer regularly crossed 140kph, took four wickets including that of Joe Root, and smashed a rapid 81 off 63 balls, featuring four fours and nine sixes.
