Pollard believes batsmen have the most to gain from the new fielding rules

West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard has announced that the new International Cricket Council (ICC) fielding rules have made life much tougher for most international captains and bowlers as well.

The West Indies and Bangladesh were the third and fourth teams to play under the new rules after Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

“It was very challenging,” Pollard said. “The bowlers have to mind their Ps and Qs. They can’t let it stray because there are not many guys outside [the circle].

“Having said that, the rules have been set and players have to just follow, so I think it is something that we have to get used to. I hope we can get the right combination and have the right tactics to counter the restrictions.”

Under the new ICC fielding rules, only two fielders may be placed outside the 30-yard circle during the first ten overs of an ODI, while three are allowed during powerplay overs and a maximum of four throughout the rest of the match, which is a reduction from the previous number of five.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was quick to voice his discontent towards the new rules during the national team’s ODI series against New Zealand.

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr agreed with Jayawardene’s views and added that it was a tough knowing that there was one less fielder outside the 30-yard circle during most overs of an ODI.

“I think it is going to have a negative impact on Bangladesh’s cricket on the international stage,” Enamul told ESPNcricinfo. “We depend mainly on spinners but with this new rule it will become very difficult to cut out the runs. Today we conceded 12 boundaries from the one gap that couldn’t be filled during those non-Powerplay overs. I think these extra runs will hurt the chances of Bangladesh because of the higher number of spinners we usually pick in limited-overs cricket.”

Many cricket pundits believed that the introduction of two new balls during ODIs would be a huge disadvantage for subcontinent teams like Bangladesh since they heavily rely on their spinners to take a majority of the wickets.

However, Haque does not think the rule is as bad as it seems, and said: “Spinners have been more adaptable to the new balls than the fielding restrictions. What this new rule does is it takes out the security of an extra man in the deep, the only thing to do is bowl as straight as possible and to think about using variations with a lot of accuracy. Otherwise runs will be leaked.”

But, Pollard had a massive grin on his face when talking about how much easier batting seemed, especially knowing that there was one less fielder in the deep.

“It can be good and bad,” he said. “If you want to hit the ball outside, being too eager because of the four fielders, you can still find one of them. We have a lot of power-hitters so clearing the boundary and the ball falling in gaps is important for us. Hopefully we can capitalise on it until there’s any further changes.

“I think captains will have a hard job in setting the fields and bowlers will have an even tougher job trying to restrict the batsmen. You’ll see a lot more 300-run games in place of the 270-280 games because of that extra guy inside.”