Matter of Fact | Chaitanya Lekhwani
Since the advent of Cricket, Bowlers have always been its whipping boys. In a world where every kid growing up dreams of becoming a Sachin Tendulkar, only a few would want to emulate a Shane Warne or Anil Kumble.
Everyone would remember that the highest individual ODI score is an unbeaten 200 by Sachin Tendulkar, but what of Chaminda Vaas who single-handedly tore the Zimbabwe team to shreds, picking a jaw-dropping eight wickets for 19 runs. How many people know that, let alone remember it. Continue reading below
Its not the bowlers fault, its the game's fault.
And in today's day and age, the stadium has become the slaughterhouse, the umpires the butchers and the batsman, happy consumers waiting to feast on the man with the ball.
A no ball which was earlier a warning to adhere to the front-line and punished with an extra ball in the over and an additional run to the batting team, has now taken a whole new turn.
In another alteration to the rule clearly keeping batsmen in mind, the then cautionary no-ball has now become an ever-hovering sword on the bowler's head. the front-foot no ball njow results in a free-hit, along with the additional run and the ball, that added delivery serves as a chance to the batsman to tonk the bowler to any part of the park without the fear of getting caught, bowled, trapped leg before or stumped, the only opening for the the fielding side being a run-out.
And then comes the rule of the one-bouncer over!
For decades, bowlers have petrified batsman with the short stuff, with the 'perfume ball' being brought into the bowling repertoire by 'Whispering Death' Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall. A perfume ball was a delivery so steep and high that it actually went past the batsman's nose.
But how could the cricketing fraternity tolerate the bowling clan attaining higher ground?
Out came the bouncer rule, wherein a bowler could only bowl a single delivery reaching the shoulder.
If the bouncers were the tremors, the LBW rule is its epicentre.
Ever since its introduction, the governing body is till trying to iron the creases, bringing in refinements on an everyday basis.
In the end, it is the bowler who is at the receiving end.
"The rule fundamentally states that first and foremost, the ball must, in the opinion of the on-field umpire, be going on to hit the stumps if the ball had not hit the pad of the batsman first. If the batsman plays an attempted shot to the delivery, then the ball must hit the batsman's pad in line with the stumps and be going on to hit the stumps for the batsman to be given out. If the batsman does not attempt to play a shot, then the ball does not have to hit the pad in line with the stumps but it still must be going on to hit the stumps. If the ball pitches outside the leg stump, then the batsman cannot be given out under any circumstances".
So if this is what the rule states, shouldn't blocking any of all three stumps be taken into consideration?
So when the line of the ball is hitting the leg stump as well, why consider that not being dismissed?
Since the 1992 World Cup, the fielding restrictions put another nail into the already sealed casket of the Bowler.
The field was authorised top be set in such a way, that a minimum of 4 fielders should be allowed inside the circle.
Team that up with 10 over mandatory poweplays and another set of 5 over batting powerplay which can be used at the batting team's discretion, and the bowlers shall Rest in Peace!
There was a time when the all famed MCG was the true test of a batsman, not only in technique, but in strength. With the boundaries streching right back to the audience stands, the power and timing on a shot had to be immaculate for the ball to reach the fence, and if not the batsman should have iron lungs to run the four runs.
Fast forward to today and top edges and mis-hits fly away to the boundary, why you ask? Because of the phenomena that is T20, the audience wants hell for leather batting, balls flying all round, so what if its at the bowler's expense? Over the years the spinners and seamers have resigned to the fact that they are just the pawns in a game of chess who are the first to get killed!
