NEW DELHI: The United States cricket team coach Stuart Law acknowledged that not many players in his squad are familiar with the new 'stop-clock' rules as T20 World Cup co-hosts became the first team to be penalized five runs under the new rules on Wednesday.
Stuart Law, however, maintained that the penalty didn't influence the outcome of the game as India were in control of their run chase at that juncture.
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The sanction has been introduced by the ICC in an endeavor to speed up play. A team is penalized if after two warnings they still take more than a minute between overs.
The US were sanctioned at the start of the 16th over and instead of requiring 35 runs off 30 balls to reach their 111-run target, India's task became 30 off 30 deliveries instead.
"We had a few warnings in earlier games, and it's something we do talk about to get through faster between the overs," said former Australian international Law in the post-match press conference. "We're only a fledgling team. There's plenty to learn. There's not just the cricket aspect of the game of cricket, but there's also the other intricacies that need to be embedded. It's a rule that's only just come in."
"A lot of our players wouldn't have heard about it before we played in the Bangladesh series or the Canada series earlier this year," Law added.
Despite the penalty, Law said the five-run sanction would not have altered the outcome of the Group A clash. India won by seven wickets with a comfortable 10 balls to spare to qualify for the second round Super Eights.
"Five runs wasn't going to affect the outcome of the game," added Law. "The players know the rule, but it's something that if you haven't played with it for a long time, it's very difficult to have it embedded in your brain."
Despite the defeat, the United States are still in contention for the Super Eight stage. They need a win or even a no-result in their final group game against Ireland on Friday to advance to the next round.
