New over-rate rule by the ICC that prevented India vs. Pakistan in the 2024 U19 World Cup final

In the event that Pakistan had defeated Australia, India and its bitter rival would have faced off in a second final of the ICC U19 World Cup.In the Under-19 World Cup semifinal match against Australia on Thursday night at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, Pakistan captain Saad Baig was a busy man, continually switching up his bowlers and altering his fields. It was rewarded with Pakistan storming back, led by Ali Raza's four-wicket haul, but it had an unforeseen effect prior to the start of the last over, when the side required to win by defending four runs or taking one wicket. Pakistan lost by one wicket and missed the chance to get a date with India for the championship match as a result of Baig's compliance with the new ICC regulation.The ICC created an in-match penalty rule for one-day internationals (ODIs) in late 2022, following the introduction of the penalty for slow over rates in Twenty20 International cricket. The rule states that the fielding team must have an extra fielder inside the ring for each over in which they are not able to finish an innings before the agreed-upon cut-off time, after taking time allowances into account. For instance, a team will have an extra fielder inside the circle for the final two overs if they finish 48 overs before the innings is supposed to end, leaving just four fielders outside the ring.

Pakistan had to field one extra fielder on Thursday, bringing fine leg into the ring, since they finished their 49 overs ahead of the planned cut-off time. Australia's No. 8 Raf MacMilllan got an inside edge against a length ball outside off from Mohammad Zeeshan in the opening ball of the final over, and the ball went past short fine leg for a boundary.While providing analysis, former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop stated that Pakistan would have had a fielder at fine leg and the winning boundary would have only been a single if they had not broken the over-rate rule.In the event that Pakistan had defeated Australia, India and its bitter rival would have faced off in a second final of the ICC U19 World Cup. In the summit conflict, Pakistan had prevailed in the lone previous encounter with India back in 2006. The U19 team that defeated the Boys in Blue, which included Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Piyush Chawla, was captained by Sarfaraz Ahmed, who went on to lead the senior Pakistan team to victory against India in the 2017 Champions Trophy.In the 2024 U19 World Cup final, Australia will now play India on Sunday. India advanced to their sixth consecutive final and ninth overall after narrowly defeating South Africa in a thrilling match.