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I’m pleased that slow over rates are being clamped down on

It sends out a great message to players that Rohit Sharma and Eoin Morgan were fined for their slow over rates this week.

T20 cricket is an entertainment package. It’s supposed to be short and sharp – fours, sixes, wickets and misfields. And it’s supposed to be done inside three hours.

I remember when I first played T20 games in 2004 that there was a timer up on the scoreboard and you had to complete your overs in that time. It was non-negotiable.

When you know that you’re fighting against that, you stop procrastinating and start making quicker, better decisions. It all serves the excitement and buzz of the spectacle.

I get why it happens. T20 cricket at the start wasn’t particularly high-pressured, but when the money came in and careers were defined by the format then the pressure built up.

Under pressure, captains want to slow the game down and bring it to their pace.

But in T20 cricket, that shouldn’t be allowed.

Hearing that two leading captains had been fined was music to my ears, and if fines don’t work then I want to see runs penalties.

Nothing should be off the table when it comes to speeding up the play, because it becomes so much harder to watch when it takes too long.

CSK are proof that things can change so quickly

In T20 cricket, you only need a couple of players to be in really good form to get you over the line.

I know from experience of playing in these teams that if a couple of batsmen are whacking it out of the park and a couple of bowlers are picking up wickets then they can drag everybody else with them.

And so, even though Chennai Super Kings weren’t fancied coming into the IPL, guys like Moeen Ali and Faf Du Plessis coming into form was always going to turn that situation around.

Ruturaj Gaikwad looks good, Sam Curran is doing the business and MS Dhoni is a masterful captain. Then they’ve got the superstar Ravi Jadeja who seems to be here, there and everywhere.

They’ve got really good players, fantastic T20 players, and it’s only taken a few of them to hit form to get them going. They look very competitive in this IPL now.

Moeen Ali is a great squad option for England

There is talk that this IPL is proving how England underuse Moeen Ali, but it needs to be appreciated how difficult it is to break into that T20 side.

I don’t think Moeen can be a regular starter for England, their T20 squad is too strong.

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan – the list goes on and on.

I don’t think he can be a regular starter, but he’s definitely somebody who can step in where there is illness, injury or somebody needs a rest.

He just happens to be playing in a fantastic era of English batsmen. Look at the great Australian side around 20 years ago when guys like Mike Hussey and Damien Martyn were struggling to get in.

But he is a wonderful player. He’s three-dimensional, which I really like, and he’s proving how good a player he is at the moment.

Glenn Maxwell’s form has been a pleasant surprise

I was sceptical of RCB’s purchase of Glenn Maxwell at the beginning of the tournament, partly because he is ‘The Big Show’ – he likes to be the main man in the teams he plays in.

He certainly isn’t that here, with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers at the top of the tree, so it’s surprised me that he’s done so well.

He must feel very comfortable in the set-up there. I know that if you make Maxwell feel comfortable and pump his tyres a bit then you will see huge benefits.

He is a fabulous player. He can be inconsistent, but we haven’t seen that inconsistency yet this season.

Players can turn a corner as they become more experienced and I hope that Maxwell is turning a corner now because he can be a world-beater if he remains at his highest level.

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