Sunil Gavaskar: Let’s have an even contest between bat and ball

The old saying of cricket being a batter’s game is true because a batter’s first mistake can be the end of his innings and so the playing conditions are made to suit them. But that’s no reason to have silly restrictions on the bowlers like it is for the bouncers.

Bizarre rules: Punjab Kings’ Jitesh Sharma avoids a bouncer in the IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. “A bouncer should be called a wide only if it is way above the batter’s head,” says the author.  | Photo Credit: AFP

The most competitive and glamorous T20 league in the world is reaching the halfway stage, and we have seen some nail-biting finishes. The T20 format does lend itself to last over scrambles, but when it comes to the final ball of the game with the result on the line, it can test the nerves and heartbeats of even the most hardened followers.

While the first week of the tournament saw teams that were set a target winning most of the matches, the next round saw teams batting first defending even small totals. The best example was the reigning champions Gujarat stopping the Lucknow team from chasing 130, the lowest total defended in the tournament so far. Lucknow was in a healthy position with nine wickets in hand and 31 runs needed with six overs to go. Whether it is pressure or the urge to be a hero, players go for the big shots when a couple of sensible, less risk shots can win the game. Sure, the net run-rate is important to be aware of, but the first priority always has to be to win the match and get the points. The net run-rate can come into play more towards the later half of the tournament when there is usually a gap between the top two teams on the points table and the others looking to finish third and fourth.

This is where the so-called big hitters are supposed to earn the mega bucks they are given. On most occasions, they flatter to deceive with the odd six or two but unable to take their team over the finish line. This shorter format is extremely tough on the bowlers, with short boundaries and big bats, and it is not fair to be harsh on them. The definition of a wide for a bouncer is also not in favour of a good short-pitched delivery, so the bowlers can often feel that they are bowling with one hand tied behind their backs. A bouncer should be called a wide only if it is way above the batter’s head. Most quick bowlers are going to get the ball just above the batter’s head in any case. The good batters will actually use it to score runs as we have seen with the hook shot, the ramp shot or the upper cut. Those deliveries are not called wides, but if a batter misses those attempted shots they are called wides, which is really strangling the quick bowlers. One can understand if it is called a wide when a batter ducks under or sways out of the line of the ball going above his head in his regular stance, but when a shot is attempted and missed it shouldn’t be called a wide. As it is, the bowlers are on a hiding to nothing in this format of the game, and if one of their weapons has to be sheathed, then they are going to be hammered even more.

In the past when the bouncer restrictions came in to the game with none being allowed in the white ball format, we saw the so-called pinch hitter who used to be batting at number eight or lower being promoted up the order. He would blindly step out and swing his bat at some of the quickest bowlers in the game, well aware that no comeback delivery would be aimed at their helmets because the bouncer was banned. It was cringing to see these lower-order batters treating quick bowlers like Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Allan Donald — to name a few — as if they were spinners. They wouldn’t have dared to do that in the red ball format even though in this format, the bouncer was limited to one in an over. In the red ball format the quick bowler wouldn’t mind giving a wide but in the white ball format every run is crucial and so the quick bowlers are chary of banging the ball into the pitch and getting the batters’ ears to burn. When I became Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, I expressed my reservations about the bouncer being virtually banned and proposed that the white ball game should allow the bowlers to bowl at least one bouncer in the over. I explained the reasons which have been enumerated above and there was almost unanimous approval from the rest of the committee who were all ex-players of repute. As soon as that playing condition came into force the pinch-hitter went back to where he belonged, at the lower order of the batting ranks. The committee also introduced a playing condition to allow one bouncer to each batter in the over instead of just one bouncer in an over.

The old saying of cricket being a batter’s game is true because a batter’s first mistake can be the end of his innings and so the playing conditions are made to suit them. But that’s no reason to have silly restrictions on the bowlers like it is for the bouncers. Today, we see boundaries being brought in by as much as 10 metres, making even a mishit go for a six. It is understood that ground advertising is a huge source of income but if the ground authorities can devise boundary advertising boards to be cushioned at the bottom half with rubber or foam to soften the impact of a fielder sliding or diving and crashing into it, then the boundaries can be pushed back to make it tougher to hit a six and have an even contest between bat and ball.

These are just thoughts expressed before in various fora, and hopefully, some merit will be seen in it to make the game, especially the white ball format a keener battle between bat and ball.