Was the victim of England’s boundary dimensions in Edgbaston?

England cricket team have deployed a new strategy to deal with the Indian batters in the ENG vs IND 2nd Test. The hosts have successfully convinced the groundsmen to bring the boundary ropes further in to the least permissible limit within the ICC’s playing conditions. As a result, no part of the ground is longer than 64.9 meters from the stumps. Perhaps, it was this ploy which helped England get rid of Rishabh Pant for a cheap score at Edgbaston on Day 1.

England’s boundary dimensions strategy ft. Rishabh Pant

An Indian Express report states that England’s plan to tweak the boundary dimensions has been linked to “negate the threat of the tweakers and apply more pressure on the fielders by targeting the shorter square boundaries.” Their ploy could have very well be the reason behind Pant’s dismissal. The Indian vice-captain, who scored twin hundreds in the Leeds Test, was dismissed by Shoaib Bashir when he attempted a swing over wide long-on but was instead caught out by Crawley.

It could have possibly been Pant’s misjudgement of the short boundary that led to his dismissal. But make no mistake, England are well within the rules to make amends to the boundary dimension.

The southpaw managed to score 25 runs off 42 deliveries before he was sent packing. He only struck a four and a six each before he was forced to walk back to the pavilion. Overall, the Indian team managed to score 64 fours and 6 sixes in the 1st innings.

What does ICC rule on boundary dimensions say?

“No boundary shall be longer than 90 yards [or] Less than 65 yards from the center of the pitch. The umpire will consult with the Home Board to determine the boundary of the field of the game before the matchThe ‘ICC World Test Championship is said in a statement in the playing conditions.