Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott unhappy with lack of clarity on Super Over rules

In the third T20I between India and Afghanistan, the game ended in a tie. Batting first, the Men In Blue amasses 212-4, having been reduced to 22/4. In reply, despite having a slow start, the Afghans eventually reached the same score, and the game ended in a tie. In the first Super Over, the visitors batted first and amassed 16/1.

In reply, the former T20 World Cup winners managed the same number of runs, and the game extended to the second one-over eliminator. Here, the Rohit Sharma-led side batted first and amassed 11/2. In reply, the Ibrahim Zadran-led side scored only 1/2. With this, the longest-ever T20I finally had a winner. However, during this, there was confusion around Rohit Sharma batting twice and Azmatullah Omarzai not bowling again.

For the unversed, Sharma came out to bat in the second Super Over but Omarzai didn’t bowl again. The rules suggest that if a bowler bowls once in the Super Over, they can’t bowl again in the next Super Over. On the other hand, if a batter gets out, they can’t bat again. However, as Sharma retired, he could come out to bat again.

The rules weren’t communicated: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott

After the game, the Afghanistan head coach expressed his confusion over the rules.

“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 meet.

“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.