By ANI
CHENNAI: Zaheer Khan, Director of Cricket Operations, Mumbai Indians on Monday said it needs to be seen how the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 shapes up if dew becomes a factor in each and every game.
Zaheer’s comment comes on the back of CSK skipper MS Dhoni and SunRisers Hyderabad captain David Warner talking about the dew factor and the role it is playing in IPL games this season.
“If there is a dew factor, then we have to wait and see how the tournament shapes up. As we play more and more games, whether it is actually becoming a factor in terms of an advantage to one team, we have to wait for that,” said Zaheer during a virtual press conference.
After the loss against KKR, Warner commented on the dew factor, saying: “The dew made a difference. If the bowlers overpitched, it was easy to hit it, and with the height in their team, and with the cross-seam, it stopped a little bit on us.”
On the other hand, CSK skipper Dhoni said that the 7:30 PM start is giving an advantage to the team chasing as the dew sets in and chasing becomes a lot easier. “Especially when you have dew in your mind and you are batting first, you want to get those extra 10-15 runs — that was normally in 8pm start games. Now the 7.30 start means the opposition will have at least half an hour when there will be very little amount of dew on the field, which means it will not come on as nicely as it will in the second innings.
“So you have to score those 15-20 extra runs to make it even, and after that also you have to get early wickets to make a big mark on the game,” said Dhoni.
IPL matches traditionally used to start at 8 pm but the timings have been changed with evening games starting at 7:30 pm while the afternoon games start at 3:30 pm as compared to the initial scheduling of 4 pm.
