The occurrence of a double Super Over in international cricket marked a first, leading to significant confusion in the third T20I between India and Afghanistan on January 17. The confusion was compounded by a lack of timely rule clarification. India's captain Rohit Sharma's choice to retire hurt (or out) before the end of the first Super Over sparked widespread debate, a situation not even Afghanistan's coach Jonathan Trott could comprehend. Trott disclosed post-match that communication between players and officials was minimal as they prepared for the second Super Over. In his post-match media address, Trott mentioned that the situation brought new rules into focus, as a double Super Over had never previously occurred in the sport.
"I have no idea (whether Rohit retired hurt or out). Has there ever been two Super Overs? That's what I am trying to say. We keep setting these new rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines," said Trott in the post-match press conference.
Trott disclosed that his team was not properly informed about the rule preventing the same bowlers from participating in multiple Super Overs.
As a result, when Afghanistan intended to use Azmatullah Omarzai for the second Super Over, they discovered he was ineligible since he had already bowled in the first one.
"It was not communicated (the rule). We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, but Fareed (Ahmad) bowled a great over. But these things will be explained and done in writing in the future. If those are the rules, that's great. I just think we had a good game, and I don't think that (rules) should be the talking point," he asserted.
The ideal scenario states, the match referee should have relayed all possible scenarios to the Afghanistan team. However, the majority of the responsibility falls on their support staff, especially the analysts. These team members are typically responsible for managing intricate Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) calculations. In comparison, net run rate calculations, which are relatively straightforward, should have been adequately addressed by them.
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