Virat Kohli feels ICC could be more lenient on water break rules

Virat Kohli on Saturday took one more step closer to become India’s most successful captain in Tests as his side hammered Windies by an innings and 272 runs inside three days to take a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. He now has 23 wins as captain in Tests and needs just four more victories to square the feat of his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the most successful.

Even though it was a good turnaround for the captain who lost two of his last series – in South Africa and England – Kohli raised his concern over the new regulations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that permit water breaks only at the fall of a wicket or in-between overs. He hoped that the match officials took into account the factors like heat while executing such laws.

Umpires kept a close watch on players seeking drinks

Though India had a comparatively better time as a fielding unit taking 20 Windies wicket inside 100 overs, the visitors toiled for almost 150 overs for picking nine wickets and Virat Kohli still felt it could be taxing for the players.

“That was a bit to do with the umpires pushing us as well, with these new rules coming in of not drinking too much water,” Kohli was quoted as saying by the Times of India as saying after the win – India’s biggest by an innings. The Windies were bowled out for 196 in their second essay after they managed 181 in the first in reply to India’s mammoth score of 649 for the loss of nine wickets and were asked to follow on.

The temperature in Rajkot was hovering around 40 Degrees Celsius on each of the three days of the Test match and players from both the sides were being constantly monitored by the umpires as they sought for drinks. India played five bowlers in the match, perhaps to ease the burden from on them.

“The guys really struggled in this game because of those few changes. It was quite difficult for the guys not to drink water for close to 40-45 minutes while batting and on the field as well. I’m sure they’ll look into this,” the Indian skipper added.

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