Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming admitted that slow over rate has been a problem this IPL and blamed the hot and humid weather for teams taking too much time to get things moving.
"We can all feel how humid it is. Late season games in Mumbai and Chennai are going to be longer because the players do suffer. If a player bats, say for a period of time, they are under some stress," Fleming said after his side's win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier.
Chasing a modest target of 140, CSK were down in the dumps at 92 for seven, before Faf Du Plessis (67 off 42 balls) engineered a stunning comeback.
Speaking about the South African batsman, Fleming said: "And Faf (du Plessis) is like a Ferrari car, he needs a lot of attention. So, it is always going to take time when he is over there."
Quite a few teams and captains have already been fined for slow over rate this season.
"But it can be sped up, there is time wasting in cricket in general, but that's a separate discussion. Slow over rates are killing the game, from Test cricket down. So it does have to be policed better, and players have to oblige a bit more," said Fleming, a former captain of New Zealand.
The Super Kings coach said yesterday was the only time in the season that his team was slow on the over-rate front.
"We're pretty good. That is probably the only game where we've been a bit slow. It's just a question for our team because I felt we were off mentally. And when you're wandering around without purpose, you take more time."
"We were seven minutes down at the drinks break and it was enough for me to crack the whip a little. So we were just off a bit today. And that contributes to the slowness of the game. We don't want to do that and we certainly want to improve," Fleming said.
