The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday (January 7) announced new playing conditions for T20 Internationals, as per which, the fielding side will suffer massively due to slow over-rate.
The slow over-rate will result in a fielder less outside of the 30-yard circle for the remaining overs of the innings.
As part of its updated playing conditions, the apex body also introduced an optional drinks interval midway through the innings.
Sharing his two cents on the same, former India opener Aakash Chopra described the in-match penalty rule as "dangerous".
"The ICC has said that the slow over-rate will be seriously penalized. In my opinion, there cannot be a more dangerous penalty than this. All other penalties are useless, whether you ban the captain or in the IPL you fine the team - financial fines, the match fee is cut - there is no value of that," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
"The value is only of this thing - that you make a mistake and you had to pay for it at that moment itself. People will run quickly now and will try to finish the overs on time. In my opinion, it is a fantastic rule," he added.
The first men’s match to be played under the new playing conditions will be the one-off tie between the West Indies and Ireland at the Sabina Park in Jamaica on 16 January while the first T20I of the three-match series between South Africa and the West Indies in Centurion on 18 January will be the first women’s match played under the new playing conditions.
The in-match penalties are in addition to the sanctions for slow over-rate outlined in Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.
Aakash Chopra also called for the induction of penalty in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He further suggested the idea of rewarding runs to the opposition if the fielding side fails to complete the overs in stipulated time.
"Another option was to have a runs penalty in the overs you bowl after the stipulated time. You double the run rate and give that penalty, that is also an option but I feel this is a very good way.
"Bring this rule in the IPL as well. The teams take four overs at times to finish a match. Why? That's just not fair. If you start the match at 7:30, it finishes at 11:30. Earlier it used to start at 8:00, which means it became 12:00. It is everyone's loss," he stated.
