Twenty20 cricket in general, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in particular, is constantly reinventing itself and pushing the bar of impossibility to stratospheric levels. The ongoing season of the IPL, less than a quarter of the way into the league stage, has already witnessed the two biggest team totals in the league’s history. It is the fastest-scoring edition of the T20 extravaganza, which has seen cumulative average batting run rates rise by more than a full run since its inception in 2008, from 8.30 to 9.36.
The Impact Player rule, introduced last year, has only played into the hands of the willow-yielders further, allowing teams to beef up the line-up with specialists. To offer bowlers some respite, the tournament organisers decided to permit two bouncers in an over this year, doubling their capacity to opt for the short-pitched stuff. The decision came after the two-bouncer-per-over provision, trialled during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023–24 T20 tournament, received positive feedback.
The bowlers readily accepted the munificence and put it to work. The short ball has gained increasing currency in the IPL, with its frequency rising from one in every 11 deliveries bowled by pacers in 2022 to one in every nine the following year. With the cushion of bowlers being allowed an extra bouncer this year, the short ball recurred almost every five balls in the first 13 matches of this edition of the IPL.
“... the moment it was decided that there were going to be two bouncers in an over, that’s when all the bowlers decided that we got to use it at a certain point. Someone who has pace can use those bouncers, but slower bouncers are working nowadays because the batsmen are trying to muscle the ball out of the ground, especially with the Impact Player rule. You have to use those variations in T20 and keep the batsmen guessing,” Sunrisers Hyderabad seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who used the slower bouncer effectively against Chennai Super Kings, said.
In keeping with what Unadkat says, the provision to allow two bouncers in an over has drastically reduced the predictability of the short ball, an element that is key to making the delivery more potent. The ongoing season of the IPL has witnessed a more equal distribution of the short ball across the first six deliveries of an over.
But even though bowlers are allowed to spring a surprise more often, the short-pitched ball is still an option fraught with danger. After the rank full toss, which yields more than 13 runs every six times it is bowled, the short delivery is the second-most profligate, going at almost 11.5 runs an over.
Despite the apparent expensive character of the short ball, it remains a key cog in the bowler’s arsenal due to its proficiency in providing crucial breakthroughs. Among the different lengths employed by fast bowlers, short balls are the most effective wicket-taking weapon.
In IPL 2023, short balls induced a wicket every 13 balls. The fuller length was the next best delivery for the pacers, scalping one every 16 balls, while the yorker, considered a potent delivery, produced a wicket every 27 balls only.
The enforcement of the two-bouncer rule has given the bowlers the license to put this munition to better use. Rajasthan Royals’ bowler Sandeep Sharma is among those exultant over the new rule. “Earlier, the batters were able to predict where the bowler would bowl if he had used his one bouncer already. But with two bouncers, the batters are also in two minds that there is still one bouncer left for the bowler to use,” the pacer said.
“Talking about the [batter’s] body weight, even if you have not executed it [the second short ball] and the body weight has not yet been transferred, the bowler can still be on the safer side. Hence, this rule is beneficial,” the 30-year-old said.
The data also suggests that teams have exploited the rule well in the second innings. Teams have used the short ball 20 per cent more in the second innings than in the first, employing it astutely while defending targets—eight out of 13 matches have been won by the team batting first.
A comparison of data between the current and previous IPL seasons provides further evidence but with a small caveat. The short ball ploy proves to be effective only through the middle overs and at the back end of the innings.
The economy rate of these balls in the PowerPlay stands at 14.04 runs (2023) and 13.14 runs (2024) per over. The run rate during middle overs across both seasons varies between 10.2 and 10.7.
The third over of the opening match of the tournament was a case in point, when Deepak Chahar’s medium-pace short deliveries were easy pickings for a well-set Faf du Plessis, who carted him for four fours, two of which came off the short-pitched stuff.
But with RCB losing three wickets in quick succession, Chahar sent Cameron Green looking for shelter with two bouncers in the final three balls of the PowerPlay. It was the first instance of the new provision being used, and it emerged as a bowler’s ally when the opposition was under the pump.
Short balls, most effective at the death (overs 17–20), went at 11.23 runs per over in IPL 2023, whereas in the current edition, there is a considerable dip — 9.02 runs per over — a clear indication of the positive effect of the two-bouncer-per-over rule.
Data suggests bouncers are a double-edged sword, and their efficacy will more often than not depend on the craft and deceit of the bowler.
West Indies fast bowling legend Curtley Ambrose had decried the limit on bouncers permitted per over in an interview with Sportstar last year by saying, “Eighty percent of it [cricket] favours the batsman.”
The latest ruling in the IPL may have taken the edge off that number a notch and made T20 bowling more than just an unforgiving walk of life.
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