England cricket captain Ben Stokes expressed his anger at the International Cricket Council (ICC) via Instagram. The 33-year-old slammed Cricket’s Apex Body for docking England points due to slow over-rate. Both hosts New Zealand and visitors England were docked a couple of points after the first Test in Christchurch.
Stokes took to Instagram and wrote, “Good on you, ICC. Finished the game early with 10 hours of play still left.” The points deduction has had a massive effect on New Zealand, which was in the race for the finals of the World Test Championships. The home side was beaten by 8 wickets just weeks after beating India 3-0 away from home.
Ben Stokes' Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/X2GYPilr2U
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 4, 2024
The second Test match is set to begin on Friday and will be played in Wellington. New Zealand have to win the game in a bid to keep their hopes WTC final hopes alive. Loss in the second game would put them out of contention with India, Australia, and South Africa firmly in the race. India and Australia will play the second Test match in Adelaide starting Friday. Sri Lanka will take on South Africa in the second and final game to be played in Gqerberha on Thursday.
Kevin Pietersen wants Prithvi Shaw to work harder
Meanwhile, former England star batter Kevin Pietersen put out a tweet urging Prithvi Shaw to work harder. The 25-year-old has been in the news ever since getting dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Team a few weeks ago. Shaw was released by Delhi Capitals and found no takers during the recently held Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions.
Kevin Pietersen wrote, “Some of the greatest sports stories are COMEBACK stories. If Prithvi Shaw has decent people around him who care about his long-term success, they'd sit him down, tell him to get off social media & train his absolute backside off in getting super fit. It'll get him back into the correct path where past success can return. Too talented to throw it all away. Love, KP.”
Some of the greatest sports stories are COMEBACK stories.
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) December 3, 2024
If Prithvi Shaw has decent people around him who care about his long term success, they’d sit him down, tell him to get off social media & train his absolute backside off in getting super fit. It’ll get him back into the…
The 25-year-old is currently playing for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. So far, Shaw has played five matches and scored 96 runs with an average of 19.2 and a best of 40 against Nagaland. On Tuesday, Mumbai beat Services by 39 runs with Shaw getting bowled out for a duck.