Bipin Dani
The ICC’s new playing condition of having an op-tional drinks interval of 2 minute and 30 seconds for T-20Is will be “dicey to handle and implement”, according to former India’s veteran cricket umpire, Vinayak Kulkurni.
On Friday, the ICC announced that : “An op-tional drinks break of two minutes and thirty sec-onds may be taken at the midpoint of each innings subject to agreement between Members at the start of each series”.
Speaking exclusively over the telephone, Kulkurni, who has coached the Indian umpires and was a Development Manager for the Indian um-pires, said, “150 seconds is too less for drinks to reach the middle, which is on an average 65 years, and more at some other venues like Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia”.
“It may not be impossible but too tight for the drinks-men to reach there and come off the same distance and also allowing the on field umpires and field players to get hydrated”.
“The decision may have been taken to hasten the T-20 matches. Ideally it should have been four minutes, which is generally the case in the Tests and ODIs”.
“Considering the average over rate, a 4-minute drink interval is given and in no circumstances it exceeds 5-minutes”.
The first men’s and women’s matches to be played under the new playing conditions (subject to the concerned Board Members agree) will be the one-off tie between the West Indies and Ireland at the Sabina Park in Jamaica on 16 January and the first T20I of the three-match series between South Africa and the West Indies in Centurion on 18 Janu-ary respectively.
