There was a time in IPL until a few years back, where getting 200 in an innings was a tedious task, and chasing down that score was even more cumbersome. But long gone are those days, and anything under that is generally considered under-par. And due to all this Shardul Thakur isn’t a happy man. Speaking on behalf of all bowlers in the league, he has called for “fair pitches”, that have something in them for the bowlers as well.
Shardul Thakur Takes up Bowlers’ Cause
For now, it is just one way traffic where 200 has been breached six times in 10 matches, and the second-highest score of 286 was also achieved by SRH. “It is not what I want, but it is what the bowlers want,” Thakur said ahead of LSG’s clash against PBKS. “A lot of them might not be outspoken or they might not get a chance to speak in front of media or give interviews about the pitch conditions.
“All that the bowlers are asking is to prepare the pitch in such a manner that the game hangs in balance and it should not be just one-sided where batters are coming and smashing us, because all we want is a fair chance and fair opportunity in the game.”
200 in IPL, The New Normal
While the experts have felt that the Impact sub rule is the real villain, Shardul Thakur has managed to bust the myth. “We have already seen the rule change and the Impact Player rule coming in, so every team is potentially playing an extra batter, especially while chasing or even let’s say you are batting first, then [everyone] is going in with that depth, because they have now an opportunity to change the batter and call a bowler while defending or vice versa,” he said.
“The Impact Player rule is an entertainment factor and games change a lot, but that these 250 scores are being made is not only because of this rule change, but also because of the way the pitches are being made. We are just saying as a bowling unit that give us a fair and square chance where we can get a batsman out.”
