New Delhi. Cricket is often called a game of bat and ball, but in today’s T20 era it seems that this balance has been lost somewhere. The word “ball” seems to be gradually becoming unimportant. In this high-risk, high-reward modern T20 format, all the attention has focused only on the batsmen. The question is, who is taking this risk and who is getting the reward? It is as if the bowlers have become mere spectators.
In today’s T20 cricket, if the risk pays off, we see half centuries in 15 balls and scores of over 220 have become common but where are the bowlers in this whole game? It seems as if every match has become just a highlights package, in which the role of bowlers has almost ended. In many matches, up to 100 runs are scored in the first six overs, which shows a completely unbalanced situation.
Bowlers are getting out of the game!
For example, Punjab Kings have world class bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, whereas Sunrisers Hyderabad also has a strong bowling attack. Despite this, Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 78 runs in 26 balls, Abhishek Sharma also performed the same and then Priyansh Arya also batted in the same style. Are bowlers just there to take hits? Have they become just a means of entertainment? The question is also important whether this format is actually making the game interesting or making it one-sided and boring. If the bowlers are not empowered, the game may suffer losses in the long run.
Heavy bat, small field, big loss for bowlers
Test cricket is great even today because it is a real competition between bat and ball. Both bowler and batsman are equal partners. The swinging ball, the fielder standing in the slips and the test of the batsman all together make the game exciting but the new form of T20 is destroying this balance. Small grounds, small boundaries and heavy bats are creating problems for the bowlers.
Just scoring runs will not increase the thrill
Now the question is how to improve this situation? Will we just keep seeing the par score reach 250 in T20? There is no easy answer to this, but it is important that there is balance in the game and both batsman and bowler are equal partners. At present the situation is such that even the best bowlers are conceding 45-50 runs in their four overs, and the batsmen who find it difficult to play even 15 balls in Test cricket are dominating here.
Plans made for bowlers
For a prestigious tournament like IPL, it is very important that the level of cricket remains the highest. Presently the situation is such that power plays of 70 runs and 200+ scores have become common, which are easily achieved till the 18th over. It should not be the case that we make only the batsmen the stars and relegate the bowlers to a weak supporting role. How this problem is resolved will be very important in the future because if this high-risk, high-reward T20 format becomes the norm globally, then the balance and true beauty of cricket may be in danger.
