The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a run fest so far. In just 35 matches so far, teams have breached the 250-run mark five times, with SunRisers Hyderbad (SRH) achieving three of those totals. SRH have also broken the record for the biggest-ever IPL total not once but twice. Amid the run fest in IPL 2024, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), suggesting measures for protection of bowlers.
Gavaskar has urged the BCCI to increase the length of the boundary by pushing the ropes and the advertisement board a little more back.
“I wouldn’t suggest any changes to a cricket bat because they are all within regulations, but I have been saying this for a long time, increase the size of the boundary at every ground. Look at this ground today, there is enough space to take it back a little more by a couple of metres. It can often prove to be the difference between a catch and a sixer. You can push that LED or advertisement boards even further so that the boundary rope can go back by 2-3 metres and that will make a difference. Otherwise, the bowlers are the only ones who will suffer,” Gavaskar said after the match.
Gavaskar admitted that while power-hitting in IPL can be exciting at times, it tends to get boring eventually, highlighting the lack of contest between batters and bowlers.
“What we have been seeing in T20 cricket over the last few days is that this is batting like the coach tells in the nets, ‘This is the last round,’ and everybody starts swinging their bat around bang, bang whether they get out or not. It’s enjoyable to a little extent, but after that it gets…not so exciting. I wanted to use a stronger word, but no,” he added.
