Like in the on-going election campaign slogans, this IPL has just proven that any target set by the opposition can be overhauled in a T20 run-fest chase ! Veteran English batter Johny Bairstow hit a purple patch and rookie Shashank Singh gave such a sucker punch to KKR in the final overs that left the Eden Gardens 55,000+ crowds stunned to silence !
Unpredictable Punjab Kings boys were wilting at the bottom half of the points table till now. But with yesterday came their momentous rather than momentum shift when their innings started. The two openers went on to unleash a blitz like a reign of terror on the hapless KKR bowlers (barring Narine) smoking huge sixes to surpass the mighty total of 262 posted by KKR. Considering PKS finally won with 8 balls to spare, if KKR had posted 300, Johny & Singh would’ve smashed 6 sixes to reach that !
It’s no use dissecting the lame-duck bowling by KKR (except the Narine spell) when they just wouldn’t contain rampaging batters the same way they couldn’t against RR when Jos the ‘Butler did it’ in style. Other teams now face the same dilemma. Flat pitches are paradise for batting sides and hell for bowlers. T20 is a beast that bashers have tamed and battles are one-sided, skewed to batters skilled in slug-fests. But simply bashing and slashing is not cricket, even if insanely thrilling for roaring crowds & ultra rich sponsors.
For the huge success that IPL had from the start a decade ago, innovations are necessary to some maintain balance between skill, power & aesthetics in contests bringing joy to the paying public. Cricket buffs like us and experts like Sunny ji are raring to suggest changes in IPL rules to ’save the bowlers’getting all the blushes and batters the awards :
* All the boundary lines must be extended. Hitting sixes is becoming just too easy. Often grounds have uneven boundaries, shorter on one side. To be fair, only 3 runs (not 4s & 6s) should be allowed when batter hits over them and only longer boundaries should fetch full value for the batter.
* Bowlers be allowed 5 overs against only 4 at present, to help get their line & length right. Also, 2 bouncers per over and one legal ball outside leg stump be permitted
*The bowling side should get 3 reviews while the batting side may get only 2 reviews
* A Batter be granted no more than 6 sixes, after that he only gets 4 runs even if it’s a 6
* The new ‘Impact Player’ rule is unfair since more batting might is getting introduced
These are revolutionary changes required to boost the morale of poor bowlers braving it out in IPL format. If things continue as they are, scores of 300 will be chased by batters’ carnage on the poor bowling side in just 20 overs ! Guys, let’s have a level playing field and restore some sanity in a good old cricket match, just as we seek elsewhere too !
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