In a competition like the T20 World Cup, small details end up making a huge impact on the ultimate outcome of a game. Victories and defeats are often decided by the thinnest of margins. Thus teams are always looking to innovate and react to situations in accordance with the demands of the game. Talking about innovation, Australia have come up with a strategy to tackle the slow over-rate problem in the shortest format of the game.
The Baggy Greens are placing non-playing members of their squad just outside the boundary ropes doing more of a ball boy's job in order to save some time in the powerplay. With just two fielders guarding the ropes in the first six overs of a T20I innings, teams often lose time while collecting the ball after it reaches or crosses the boundary.
With the new ploy, the defending champions are able to bring the ball back into play quickly, thus saving a few extra seconds, which can ultimately make a huge difference in the end.
According to the ICC laws, failure to complete the quota of 20 overs in the stipulated time forces the team to bring an extra fielder inside the 30-yad circle for the extra ball or overs that remain to be bowled after the scheduled time is done.
"In the powerplay obviously, the ball flies around, and you lose time when players have to go and fetch the ball, which is part of cricket. So the time thing is a difficult one to manage. So, I guess stationing the guys who are on the bench around the ground does save you 10 seconds here and there potentially. And that all adds up at the end of the day," Agar said in a chat with cricket.com.au.
"It's not really giving you an advantage it just makes sense. I think it's common sense to do that because you don't have guys fielding on the fence in the powerplay," he added.
