Drama, suspense and more drama. That's how one can sum up the final half an hour of Wednesday's 3rd T20I between India and Afghanistan. A dead rubber that was considered nothing more than an afterthought after India had wrapped up the series, ended up being the most enthralling of all games and soared above expectation. With nothing to separate the two teams, the match went down to the wire, eventually requiring two Super Overs to determine the winner.
Super Overs are already exciting enough, and when you add one more to it, chaos is ensured. When both teams managed 16 each after the first Super Over, everyone from captains to umpires wore a clueless look on their faces. So much so that even during the first Super Over, when Rohit Sharma deliberately retired himself so that Rinku Singh, with fresh legs, could run and take a single isn't hit, Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott was left bemused. After the match got over and India secured a 3-0 sweep is when things calmed down and the Afghanistan coach realised that he and everyone else at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium had witnessed something epic.
"I have no idea," Trott said of Rohit's decision to retire. "Has there ever been two Super Overs? That's what I am trying to say. It's sort of like a new... we keep setting these new sort of rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}"I have no idea," Trott said of Rohit's decision to retire. "Has there ever been two Super Overs? That's what I am trying to say. It's sort of like a new... we keep setting these new sort of rules. What I am trying to say is we kept testing the rules, we kept testing the guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}Trott suggested that there was a lack of communication between players and the umpires. As per ICC rules, a bowler who has already bowled a Super Over, cannot bowl the second if the situation arises. Which is why neither Azmatullah Omarzai, nor Mukesh Kumar returned (as they had bowled the previous Super Over). However, by Trott's admission, communication was all over the place.
"It was not communicated," Trott said. "We wanted Azmat to bowl the second over again, Fareed bowled a great over. But those sort of things will be explained... because it has happened, 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 should be the talking point."