A unique situation arose in the blockbuster clash between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup group match last Sunday where both the teams were forced to depute an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle in the final stages of their bowling innings.
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Seeing both the teams fielding 5 players inside at the death, many wondered if there's been a rule change that they are not aware of. However, it has to be understood that the situation was forced upon both teams as a penalty for their poor net run rate.
As per a new clause in T20I playing conditions, India and Pakistan were forced to position an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle in the final stages of their bowling innings in their Asia Cup meeting on Sunday.
Both sides failed to be in a position to bowl the first ball of their final over by the scheduled end of innings time, and were penalised by the added restriction for slow over-rate, introduced in January this year.
Speaking to the press after the victory, fast-bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar says the forced fielding changes were a good lesson to learn with big matches on the horizon.
“It is one of the points where you can win or lose the match in the last few overs. It was evenly poised but yes, we always talk about the run rate because even in the final of the Asia Cup or in the World Cup, if this happens, we can lose the match, and that’s not a nice way to lose a match.
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"We always address these things and definitely, this thing will be discussed in the next meeting we will have.”
The umpire keeps informing the fielding side's captain of the over-rate from time to time. In fact, the over-rates are also displayed on the scoreboards after every 30 minutes.
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