Sunday, July 27, 2008

Bowlers are not complaining...........

Yesterday, something unusual happened. I am not referring to an Indian loss - there is nothing unusual about it! Virendra Sehwag padded up to an innocuous delivery from Murali. Mahela Jayawardene asked for a referral and third umpire gave him out. No on-field umpire could have given him out - to a naked eye, the ball was missing leg stump. But the replays showed otherwise! Wow, I like it.

Because the referrals will bring spin bowling back to the fore. Marginal decisions, such as bat-pad decisions, and leg-befores could be increasingly decided by referrals. Referrals will more often than not mean wickets.

Because thanks to the referrals, no batsman will thrust his pad to block innocuous deliveries. Far too long, batsmen have got away. Now, they will only be forced to play with their bats instead of their pads.

Because batsmen will need to have good footwork to play spinners. This will make spinners think of ways to prise out batsmen with flight and pace variations. It will be a good contest.

Because pacers will also come to the party and be aided with close (otherwise drifting-down-the-leg side or touch too high) decisions.

Because batsmen will need all of technique, application, and luck (40-40-20) to survive, it will good to watch. Far too long, batsmen have used heavy bats to make the game lopsided. You needed some balance to spice up the game. Gosh, you may end with very few draws!

Because Test cricket needs that little bit to stay in limelight in these T20 times! Referrals could just one of the tonic. There are some obvious ones, some other time!

I know the batsmen are complaining. Bowlers are not.......that's refreshing!

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