Sounds stupid, right?
IPL is throbbing with energy; millions of viewers are watching each match at home, on their phones every day. After NFL, it is the richest league in the world. Broadcasting rights have been sold for Rs 50000 +crore - $ 7 Billion. Stadiums are flush with spectators. Fan merchandise sells heavily across e-commerce websites, franchisee fandoms are increasing. Everything looks hunky dory.
So, IPL is a god given gift to Cricket and India – so why is it a death knell?
Because the game is on the verge of losing its balance!
An anecdote – on the commentary panel were Murali Karthik, Simon Katich and possibly Deep Das Gupta. Some discussions veered around rules and Murali said – you can do that once you are reborn. To which Simon Katich said – if I were to be reborn, I don’t want to be a bowler.
Add to this what premier bowlers have said – Mitchell Starc – “It can be brutal at times, particularly on the bowlers”. Pat Cummins – “It is fun to be a batter”. For the money they been paid, this is a big statement – they could not have said more as the social media would have fallen on them like a ton of bricks. No Indian bowler commented because of the money, and possible selection at stake.
To understand how heavily loaded Cricket is towards batters, read on….
When India beat South Africa by 7 wickets at Newlands, in what proved to be the shortest test match ever (the match lasted 642 balls or 107 overs), the world poured scorn over the pitch and the stadium. The ICC gave the pitch demerit points and many gave the pitch as the reason why test cricket will not live long.
The same experts, authorities do not see anything wrong when 550 runs gets scored in 40 overs – this is seen as entertainment! It is a matter of shame and serious concern that in this year’s IPL 130 runs have been breached four times in the first 10 overs. This is not cricket.
A few decades back a six was a novelty, a rarity. Enjoyable and unique. With time, it changed- power hitters emerged who could pump the ball high and long, but it was still a rarity. Things seem to have changed dramatically in the last few years. Today any batter can hit the ball long and hard- with shrinking boundaries and bowler’s shrunken options – a contest has been taken out of the game.
Today, there is nothing even on the field – field restrictions, rules – all support the batter. A theoretical even battle looks like a relay boxing match where one after another pugilist has to pummel the revolving punching bag (the bowler) to submission. It does not look like a sport anymore. It looks like endless violence. The impact player further exacerbates this one sided demolition.
This can have a long lasting deep impact- bowler infanticide.
Across India, if a kid wants to bowl, his/her parents would say – hey – bowlers don’t have a future, become a batter. Much like the skewed sex ratio in many Indian states, there will be a skewed skill ratio in cricket.
This will be a typical Indian phenomena and our quest for ICC trophies will become a perennial one.
There are some solutions to bring back balance
1) Each IPL franchisee is rich enough to invest in the game. Let each of them invest in IPL stadiums – the condition being that the boundary should be 100 meters long.
2) After the power play, remove all fielding restrictions – much like test cricket.
3) A killer idea – remove the LBW rule that says a batter is not out if the ball pitches outside the leg stump. Let the rule be simplified – if the ball hits the stump, it is out irrespective of where the ball pitches.
4) Remove over restrictions – let Bumrah bowl 8 overs if he can.
In India cricket following is at its peak today – all of us know what happens after a peak. A drop India and Indian sports cant afford.
It is time the powers that be come together to save it from senselessness.
