The new rule that allows only four fielders outside 30-yard circle combined with the two new-ball rule has made bowlers life hell. Experts feel it has unfairly skewed the game in favour of batsmen. Amit Chaudhary reports
In the wake of new ODI playing conditions, bowlers have become highly vulnerable to the new generation of aggressive batsmen who are equipped with improved bats and innovative shots. While demanding ‘Z security’ for his bowlers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have had his tongue firmly tucked in cheek but the crucial point in his comment couldn’t be missed.
And, Dhoni is not the only one to feel worried. His Australian counterpart George Bailey is also feeling the heat. When Indian batsmen chased down a 350-run target for the second time in the ongoing ODI series in Nagpur, he observed that 350 is no longer a safe bet.
Cricket was always a batsman’s game. But the two amendments — law 5.1.2 and 41.2.4 (for explanation see box) — in the playing conditions have taken it to a new level.
“It (new rules) has a huge bearing,” Aakash Chopra, former India Test opener, said. “The game is now very heavily tilted in favour of batsmen. I think it always was but now they have just skewed it even further,” he added.
Having two new balls can work for pacers in certain conditions. They can use the movement available in the surface to their benefit. But on placid sub-continent pitches, it’s a bane.
For years, the pacers have relied on reverse swing to trouble batsmen on flat tracks. But the two new balls regulation has taken away this option too. The balls don’t get old enough to assist reverse swing.
And with one less fielder to man the boundary, the batsmen have more safe areas. Even the mishits can go for the boundary. “With the new rules three factors make bowlers sitting ducks; one, you have to tell your intentions before you bowl the ball; two, there is one less man riding the boundary and three, the ball is just 22 overs old. So, everything is stacked against you. Especially in the sub-continent where the pitches are flat,” Chopra said.
Former India spinner Maninder Singh, however, believes that the new rules are more of a psychological barrier than a real one. “I actually find it an opportunity to take wickets because if a batsman is playing some shots in the air, you have a 50-50 chance of getting him out.”
Earlier, when the powerplay rule was newly introduced, teams used to try and encash the field restriction overs. But now, with two new balls, they have changed their strategy. First powerplay isn’t their target anymore. It is the second one. ReasonIJ The ball is still hard but it doesn’t swing as much it does in initial overs. So, the death overs have become the real cause of worry for captains.
For Dhoni, the trouble is even bigger, especially in home conditions. He doesn’t have the luxury of an express pacer like Mitchell Johnson who can run through a side with pace and bounce or wicket-taking spinner like Saeed Ajmal who can also contain runs. What he has is a collection of bowlers with limited experience and ability.
“How we bowl in the death overs is an area of concern. We need to figure it out and, to be fair, it’s not going to be sorted out very soon. It’s a bigger problem and it will take a little longer to plug that hole,” Chopra said.
Maninder feels that the over-dependence on Ishant Sharma for death overs is proving to be disastrous for India. “We depend on Ishant a lot and (when) he doesn’t deliver the goods, it becomes a bane for the team. We expect him to get wickets but he is going for too many runs. It’s a point of concern for him as well as the team,” Maninder said.
It’s not just pacers who are struggling to get to terms with the new regulations. Spinners, who used to put brakes on scoring rates in the middle overs are finding it difficult to survive in such an environment.
“Yes, it (the new regulation) has marginalised them and you have to be very skillful to survive and thrive in these new playing conditions,” Chopra said.
“But if you look at the ODI bowling rankings, you will find Saeed Ajmal and Sunil Narine at the top. Even Ravinder Jadeja. Out of top 10, you have five spinners,” he added.
While Maninder believes that sticking to the old ways of bowling yorkers is the way to restrict batsmen, Chopra says one needs to be flexible in his planning and bowl smartly.
“Bowling Yorkers is the best way to stop a batsman in the death overs. That’s the delivery. If you bowl well and still go for runs, I think, no one would worry much. But if you bowl badly and go for runs, then you need to worry,” Maninder said.
“You have to be very flexible in your plans because you ball to different batsmen. You have to have more than one plan. In addition to that, you need to be very accurate, very smart, think on your feet and out-smart the batsmen and hope that it comes off well because it’s not just that. There is another additional factor of dew at this time of the year in India. You can’t even hold the ball properly, so what are the chances of executing your skills under pressure,” Chopra elaborated.