India captain Virat Kohli raised concerns over the new ICC regulations which indicate that water breaks are permitted only at the fall of a wicket or in-between overs, with unscheduled breaks at the umpires’ discretion.
India beat West Indies on Saturday by an innings and 272 runs and speaking at the post match presentation the Indian skipper hoped that match officials will take into account external factors such as heat while taking calls on unscheduled drinks intervals in Tests. With temperatures touching nearly 40 degrees Celsius on each of the three days of the Rajkot Test between India and West Indies, players from both sides were constantly under the supervision of umpires while asking for drinks breaks.
“That was a bit to do with the umpires pushing us as well, with these new rules coming in of not drinking too much water,” Kohli said after the game, when asked of improved over-rates. “These things should be considered according to the conditions we play in.”
“The guys really struggled in this game because of those few changes,” Kohli said. “It was quite difficult for the guys not to drink water for close to 40-45 minutes while batting and on the field as well. I’m sure they’ll look into this,” he added.
“We wanted to have the extra guy because of the heat factor,” Kohli said. “Four bowlers would have struggled in these conditions and we just wanted to give them bit more breaks in between and still have quality bowling coming at the opposition,” he concluded.