WTC Final | The bad light rules can be more reasonable, opines Sanjay ManjrekarÂ
The WTC final between India and New Zealand has been interrupted by spells of rain and bad light, and in wake of that, Sanjay Manjrekar has stated that the bad light rules need to be more reasonable. He added that very rarely does the match officials ask the players to continue in such situations.
In England, one thing remains constant - games getting impacted by rains. It happens with County games, it happens with international games and it's a phenomenon that spares nothing in the country. The much-awaited and hyped World Test Championship final has also been marred by constant spells of rain. The first day of the game was washed out even without a ball being bowled.Â
Not only rain, but bad light has also caused interruptions as was the case on Saturday on multiple occasions. Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has suggested that the bad light rules need to change as he reckons the officials are always overly cautious.Â
"The rules (for bad light) can be a little bit (more) reasonable. The concept of bad light is that you are so much at a disadvantage that a batsman cannot see the ball and they could get out or could get hurt. But that yardstick is now completely gone. Now we have a certain kind of understanding of what is good and what is bad, and it is always the officials who are on the side of caution. Very rarely would you see the officials forcing the players to continue playing against their wishes," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo, reported India Today.
He further added that it's never as dark in the middle that a batter cannot spot the ball. The cricket expert also hoped that the game will yield a result after all the time lost till now.Â
"I have covered the game at the ground on many occasions and the play has been called off, it's never that dark where you cannot see the ball. Hopefully, we have enough time to get a result, but bad light has been this for a while," said Manjrekar.
On day three of the WTC final, India were bundled out for 217 after Kyle Jamieson bamboozled them with a five-fer. Not only with the ball, but New Zealand batters have also done a good job thus far with their openers giving them a solid start and the Kiwis scoring 94/1 just after 43 overs of play.Â