There has been a clear difference in IPL 2024 between the bowlers and batters, with the latter scoring large totals without facing many obstacles from the former. Indian cricket legend Anil Kumble has suggested enlarging boundaries and improving the seam on white balls to give bowlers more opportunities during play and to bring the bat and ball back into harmony.
Anil Kumble’s advice
“It’s been really hard on the bowlers, especially the first half of the tournament. I certainly believe you have to maximise the boundaries at every venue and give batters the biggest possible boundaries. For starters, you can move the dugouts into the stands. I know you will lose a few seats, but so be it,” Kumble, an IPL Expert, said in a select virtual interaction organised by JioCinema on Thursday.
“Then the other aspect is to perhaps look at the white-ball having a more pronounced seam so that there’s a bit more movement. The ball stops swinging just after one over or less than that. With seam slightly pronounced, there will be some movement with the ball and along with maximising the boundaries, this will help the bowlers because you need a balance between bat and ball.”
“You can’t be running in and just going through the gears, otherwise in a couple of years, you won’t have too many bowlers lining up to do the bowling, as everybody wants to be a batter. You need bowlers to be a part of the game and the balance is very important in maintaining it. I am sure it will be addressed in the coming years,” he added.
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Records tumbling left and right
As of right now, the IPL 2024 average run rate stands at 9.57, the highest of all the tournament’s editions. More than 250 scores have exceeded eight. Furthermore, IPL 2024 saw 1133 sixes in total, breaking the previous record for the most sixes hit in a single IPL season. With batters largely enjoying superiority, it remains to be seen if Kumble’s advice will be heeded by BCCI.
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