“It hurts” - Ravi Shastri opens up as England slips to third rank in WTC table after slow-over rate offence

Former Indian head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has stated that the England team, led by Ben Stokes, can make up for their slow-over rate points deduction if their focus remains strongly on winning matches.

Advertisment

Notably, England was docked two points in the ongoing World Test Championship 2025-27 rankings for the slow-over rate after the thrilling 22-run win over India at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.

With this, England’s points dropped from 24 to 22, and they slipped from the second to the third rank in the updated WTC standings as their points percentage went down from 66.67 per cent to 61.11 per cent. Thus, Sri Lanka took over the second rank on the table with Australia dominating the pole position. 

Speaking on the ICC Instagram handle, Shastri cited an example of how Australia lost their WTC final spot in the first-ever edition, courtesy of their ordinary over-rate against India in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in Melbourne.

Advertisment

“It hurts as Australia found out in the first cycle of the World Test Championship. They had a slow over rate against India and it cost them the second place and Zealand qualified for that final. So you've got to be fully aware about all this. There'll be certain games where they'll probably make up for it,” said Shastri in a video posted on ICC's Instagram account.

Furthermore, Shastri added that England’s sole focus should remain on winning the matches moving forward, as this is just the start of the new edition of the World Test Championship. England will next take on India in the fourth Test, starting on Wednesday, July 23 in Manchester.

"But I think more than the over rate, you have to think of winning. If you focus on winning, then come the last six months, you can probably try and adjust, see how you can get those two points back or something of that sort. But you've got to win, that's more important. Because if you keep winning, that won't matter," he added.

Advertisment

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!