In a major blow, Pakistan were handed a dual World Test Championship (WTC) sanction on Monday, for maintaining a slow over-rate during their third Test against England in Birmingham. Pakistan lost the Test series 0-3. According to the sanction, Pakistan were fined 50 per cent of their match fee and docked 11 WTC points, the ICC said in a statement on their website.
Pakistan started the Test series with an innings and 103 runs defeat in Leeds before losing the second Test at Lord’s by 194 runs. Following the Lord’s Test, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replaced as many as seven players and two coaches ahead of the third Test. The change did not do any good for Pakistan as Babar Azam’s men lost at Edgbaston by 8 wickets.
According to the ICC statement, Pakistan were found to be 11 overs short of the target “after time allowances were taken into consideration”. Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction, after on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Allahudien Palekar and fourth umpire Russell Warren levelled the charge.
The 11-point deduction meant that Pakistan lost ground at the bottom of the WTC 2025-27 standings as they now sit at the bottom of the nine-team standings with a points percentage of 4.63.
According to Article 16.11.2 of WTC playing conditions, one point is penalised for each over short. Since Pakistan were 11 overs short, 11 WTC points have been deducted from their total.
The WTC sanction further deepened Pakistan’s chances in the 2025-27 WTC cycle. They will next play Tests in November when Pakistan host fellow Asian side Sri Lanka for a two-match series in Rawalpindi and Lahore. Pakistan have played nine Tests in the ongoing WTC cycle, with just two wins and lost the rest of the matches.
