Srikkanth calls for competition between bat & ball in ODIs
New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) There have been quite some talk in recent times over the ODI rules which the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have said work in favour of the batsmen and bowlers get a raw deal. While Tendulkar has said that using two new-balls in ODIs have meant that reverse swing has gone out of the game, Ganguly feels having two new balls during his time would mean scoring a boundary almost every over.
Speaking about the evolution of the ODI format, former India cricketer and chief selector Kris Srikkanth said on Star Sports’ Tamil show, Cricket Connected-Aatam Thodarattum: “When the competition between bat & ball is good, you’ll always have contests in whichever format – the 2019 Cricket World Cup was an example. In our days, boundaries used to be 80-90 meters, now it’s not more than 70-75 meters making life easier for the batsmen.”
In contemporary times, an ODI inning is played with two new white-balls from each end. When it comes to field restrictions, each inning is divided into three powerplays.
In the first powerplay from overs 1-10, only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. In the next 30 overs, i.e. from 11-40, four fielders are allowed and in the last 10 overs, five fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
On Tuesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had reminded the fans about the great Indian duo of Tendulkar and Ganguly with a fact that they both stitched together 176 ODI partnerships throughout the course of their careers and scored 8227 runs at an average of 47.55.
The Master Blaster had taken note of the stats and said they would have probably scored more runs had the current rules applied during their playing days.
“This brings back wonderful memories Dadi. How many more do you think we would’ve been able to score with the restriction of four fielders outside the ring and two new balls?” tweeted Tendulkar.
Ganguly was quick to respond to Tendulkar and said: “Another 4000 or so…2 new balls…wow…sounds like a cover drive flying to the boundary in the first over of the game…for the remaining 50 overs.”
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh suggested that ICC should amend the laws.
“At least few more thousands runs easily…such a bad rule this is…need few bowlers in ICC to keep the balance right between bat and ball…and games become more competitive when team scores 260/270 now days everyone scoring 320/30 plus and getting chased as well often,” Harbhajan wrote while replying on Tendulkar’s tweet.
Replying to this, Tendulkar on Wednesday said: “Couldn’t agree with you more Bhajji! Even I feel the rules and surfaces both need to be looked into.”
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–IANS
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