Grumble with Gaurav | Gaurav Kalra
"Mr Gavaskar", I asked out of genuine curiosity on Sunny Side Up; "If you had your time again, would you prefer to be a batsman in this era or in the 80s". "In the 80s", the great man said, "It was definitely more challenging." Sometimes a few words tell a weighty tale.
Sport at its purest pits man against man. Talent against talent. Skill against skill. On his day, the better man wins. Till they return as combatants, to enthrall again. It does not shackle one man as he battles another. Sport is freedom in its most unadulterated form. Continue reading below
It is here that cricket faces a crisis. While it can excite, like it did at Rajkot, is the game starting to stench of a no contest between its two basic skill sets. Wileding a bat and bowling a ball? In the 1980s every 43rd one-dayer produced a 300 plus score. In the 1990s every 13th game did. In this decade every 5th has! All scores of 400 plus in One-Dayers have been made in the last three years.
By reducing bowlers to sideshows, Cricket is undermining its soul. And runs the risk of losing its devoted following. Cast an eye around the cricketing globe today and the trend is unmistakable. Every country can boast of a batting great. India's top seven evoke fear. Australia have Ponting, Clarke and Hussey. England have Strauss and Pietersen. Sri Lanka have Jayawardene and Sangakkara. Pakistan have Yousuf and Younis. Even the much reviled West Indies have Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan.
Now replicate the scenario to the bowlers. Is there a single true great in our midst? Even one who would make an all time dream team? Murali is on his last legs. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh toil bravely for India but average in the 30s. Mitchell Johnson and Dale Steyn have occasional moments at best. Anderson & Broad are honest triers and no more. Asif and Gul aren't Wasim and Waqar, and never will be. The best West Indies have is Joel Garner, and he is their manager!
So is Cricket, especially the one-day format now a contest between two batting units? "I can pummel you for 400", one line-up boasts. "Go right ahead", retorts the other, "I will best that with my own savagery". The reasons aren't hard to spot and have been elaborated upon at length by several pundits. Better bats, shorter boundaries, fast outfields, flat pitches and some rules that simply criminalise bowlers. The free hit for instance. Is a batsman penalised for an inside edge? So why does stepping an inch over the line make the bowler liable for a uncultured slog on the next ball?
Worryingly, bowlers seem to have conceded defeat. Respectable figures have acquired a whole new meaning. 10-0-60-1 is a good day at the office. A dot ball is a victory, as it was in Rajkot. A maiden over is a career high. Notice also how bowlers have new found batting ambitions. Vettori slots in at number 6 in a Test line up and is New Zealand's best batsman. Harbhajan scores runs at every opportunity he gets and aims greedily for a Test century. Mitchell Johnson fancies opening the batting in One-Day cricket. Dishing out some of what they cope is comforting?
Cricket needs also to ask if any other sport deifies its superstars as much as cricket does its batsmen? Are defenders asked to stay 5 feet away from Ronaldo so he can have a free run at goal? Can Roger Federer hit a forehand in the doubles alley to beat opponents? Is Vijender Singh allowed to box a rival who has a hand tied behind his back? Then why do batsmen enjoy so many privileges? Inches down the leg earns them a wide. Only one bouncer an over, lest you expose a chink in the armour. And ahhh, the free hit if god forbid, the bowler has committed that cardinal sin of stepping over the line.
So is there a solution? Perhaps the game's bosses need to start searching now. 12 overs a game instead of the mandatory 10 is a theory doing the rounds. Sounds reasonable to me. I have a more radical proposal. If the limited overs game limits the bowler, let it also limit the batsman. No player can bat more than 75 deliveries in a One-Day innings. So let's say player A reaches 125 in 75 balls, he has to retire. It will force a new batsman to take on the challenge to keep the momentum going and allow the bowler to attack him with close-in fielders. Two bouncers in an over instead of one, just like Test cricket allows. Three fielders outside the ring in the first power-play of 10 overs instead of the current two. And yes, can we please get rid of that grotesque free hit. Then as they say, we may have a game on our hands!
