The 8th game of the IPL at Hyderabad between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad became the see ball hit ball game. Sunrisers ended up by eclipsing the record of RCB by posting the highest total in the history of IPL. Mumbai threatened to overtake that score but fell short by 31 runs. When you consider that the opposition scored 277, falling short by 31 runs and that too in a T20 game, is not at all poor. The fact of the matter is that the game wasn’t worth watching for the traditionalists of the game. Ofcourse, youngsters would have liked the game but is this really what we want to watch? Already, every rule in the game is in favour of batsmen.
Far too many rules favouring batsmen
Ball pitching outside of the leg-stump, even if goes onto hit the middle stump is still not out. Most of the grounds in the world are too small and the outfield is lightning quick. Every pitch in white-ball cricket is flat making it difficult for the bowlers to restrict. The line that marks wide delivery is way too close to the stump that the bowler, especially a spinner, margin of error is virtually zero. Only 2 bouncers per over diminishes the potency of the fast bowlers. The administrators are not at all thinking about the balance between the bat and the ball which is ridiculous. Against such a background, the Hyderabad pitch was a joke. Usually, it is the Bangalore pitch that is a nightmare for the bowlers but this Hyderabad one takes the cake.
T20 is a format that is loaded heavily in favour of the batsmen. The bowlers are restricted to just 4 overs per bowler whereas, a calculating batsman can even bat all 120 deliveries. There is not a semblance of fairness. In the knowledge that 10 wickets remain and only 20 overs to be negotiated and with the pitches being so batting friendly, it is easier for every batsman to just plonk his foot forward and hoick the ball into the stands which is anyway not that far away.
5 times
This is the number of times any team has scored 200 or more in the IPL so far. We are only in the 8th game. This number could reach 40 by the time the tournament terminates towards the end of May. What do the bowlers do under such circumstances? They are helpless. Consider for example, Maphaka, the 17-year old bowler from South Africa. He is a serious talent who could turnout for South Africa in the next 2-3 years. His confidence must have been dented after the initiation into T20 cricket. Even the bonafide Test great, Pat Cummins, wasn’t that economical either.
The administrators seem to have the wrong opinion that entertainment and enjoyment come with batsmen belting the ball to all parts of the ground. A good game is one where the bowlers too feel that they are in the game all the time. The last Test series between India and England is a case in point. The pitches favoured the spinners but not to an extent that even ordinary spinners could become dangerous. Only the good ones were able to pick up wickets if they were consistent enough. There was a game during the World T20 in 2021 in Australia at Perth between India and South Africa that was brilliant because of the bounce on offer. The target was just above 130 but it was tough chasing. These are the sort of games that keeps interest in the proceeding.
Wrapping up the see ball hit ball game
Cricket will eventually suffer is such games happen all the time. I agree that T20 is the format that now runs the game. Youngsters do not have the temperament to sit through 5 days of cricket, leave alone the ODI. The attention span has come down significantly and so is the tendency to not follow the game. However, a bit of assistance to the bowlers, be it fast bowlers or spinners, will only add value to the game.