Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has blamed on Wednesday (23 May) the hot and humid weather for slow over-rate in the ongoing 11th edition of the IPL 2018.
Since the start of the tournament, slow over-rate has been a problem and even quite a few teams and captains have been fined for slow over rate this IPL 2018.
New Zealand great also believes that the “slow over rates are killing the game” and his comment came after his team’s thrilling win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a low-scoring game of the IPL 2018 Qualifier in Mumbai on 22 May (Tuesday).
As per reports in Press Trust of India, Fleming said, “We can all feel how humid it is. Late season games in Mumbai and Chennai are going to be longer, because the players do suffer. If a player bats, say for a period of time, they are under some stress.”
He further noted, “But it can be sped up, there is time wasting in cricket in general, but that's a separate discussion. Slow over rates are killing the game, from Test cricket down. So it does have to be policed better, and players have to oblige a bit more.”
CSK coach also said that it was the first time in the ongoing season of the IPL 2018 when his team was slow in the over-rate front only because his boys were off mentally here in Mumbai.
Fleming signed off by saying, “We're pretty good. That is probably the only game where we've been a bit slow. It's just a question for our team, because I felt we were off mentally. And when you're wandering around without purpose, you take more time. We were seven minutes down at the drinks break and it was enough for me to crack the whip a little. So we were just off a bit today. And that contributes to the slowness of the game. We don't want to do that and we certainly want to improve.”
