Batting Powerplay : An Unsolved mystery
Every new innovation, every new rule framed in the game has edged highly in favour of the batsmen these days. From the “free hit” to the legality of the “switch hit” and the “Scoop shot”, but who would blame them! After all it’s a “Batsman’s Game” isn’t it ?. In fact I won’t be surprised if they come with rules like :
1) Limiting the number of yorkers a bowler can bowl in a game.
2) A short ball will result in direct ban on the bowler and he will be suspended for at least 3 ODIs and a Test Match. Extra penalty if it is pacy one.
3) There will be a limitation on the amount of turn one can extract out of the surface. Any amount of turn exceeding the prescribe limit will be given as no-ball and the entire over will be declared Free Hit (to be called free over).
4) Compulsory length bowling in the death overs, and 2 mandatory full tosses per over in the middle overs (from over 16 to 40) so that the boundaries are not dried up at any point in time. Any violation of this law would amount to full cancellation of the match fees along with a coaching session with Ajit Agarkar who will teach the basics on this law.
But seriously, are we overlooking the role of a bowler in Cricket by framing such rules, just for the sake of Crowd entertainment ?
The Powerplay was introduced to eliminate the element of boredom that the crowd faces in the middle overs (between overs 16-40 – that’s approximately 2 hours). Crowds get bored especially on a hot sultry afternoon. In order to keep the crowd involved in the game, they made this rule of batting powerplay. But it seems that no captain is adventurous enough to take it in the middle overs, and they usually keep it till the very end.
Many sides think that the ideal time for the batting Powerplay is when you actually want to go berserk, say in the last few overs. And hence we see most sides preferring to take it in the last 6-8 overs. When you sift through the batting line ups of major sides, you will see the number 7 and 8 are either hard hitting batsman or all rounders. India has Yusuf, Harbhajan, Pakistan has Afridi and Razzaq etc. Similarly many sides have hard hitters because they feel that it’s the amount of depth in hitting factor in the batting line up which is of utmost importance when one takes the Powerplay. And since it’s the last batting pair, it will be a key how they utilize the powerplay.
Some sides also don’t mind going for it as early as in the 35th over, when the ball is changed, its hard and new, and it comes nicely onto the bat. They believe that the powerplay will be of very little help in the end as they can anyway get 9-10 an over even without the powerplay on, so it’s better to use it early. But teams don’t prefer it when they fear losing a wicket in the middle overs, as if a wicket falls, the powerplay will be wasted.
However, in some games against the minnows, we see sides taking the powerplay as early as in 20-25 overs. They feel that it’s their best batsmen at the top who can utilize the powerplay to the fullest. And if a wicket falls, they can send in a pinch hitter for some quick runs and the balance of the line up is not altered as the crease occupiers and nudgers could play their normal game once the Powerplay is over. But as I said, it’s a good tactic only against weak opponents who have very little experience in death bowling and which can be taken to the cleaners even without the Powerplays.
We have also seen sides being very flexible in their approach. They tend to analyze the game situation, and then take the powerplay on basis of their pensive instincts and strategy. Many captains are hesitant and there is a sense of apathy when it comes to taking powerplay early, and it is generally postponed till the final overs for the ultimate burst.
The whimsical nature of this exciting powerplay brings in so much enthusiasm in the crowd. There is an air of petulance in the opposition camp when the batting Powerplay is signaled by the umpires. It’s always a daunting task to restrict the opposition from scoring, by keeping a lid on the scoring rate during those five overs, but it can happen if one is able to pick up wickets on a regular basis. This decision of the captain can go terribly wrong and backfire miserably, but his decision should not be condoned marking it as a blunder as this powerplay is obviously an unpredictable phenomenon and anything can happen while it is in operation. We have seen sides score 80-90 runs, and we have also seen sides losing 4 wickets for 10 odd runs too, this just goes to show how topsy-turvy it can turn out to be. But more often than not, it’s the batting side that comes on top.
It’s an asset while one is chasing as an asking rate of 8-9 can be easily grasped hold of, if one has the Powerplay left. But it can also make a 6-7 runs an over look difficult in case you don’t have wickets left because there won’t be easy singles on offer and one has to take the risk and go over the in field to score easy runs. All in all, it’s a tester for both the sides as to who blinks first. It is still a mystery which none of the team has mastered. It acts as a catalyst when one wants a big score but at the same time has the tendency to swerve the balance of the game elsewhere. It’s an art to bowl in the Powerplay, with a lot of subtle variations, good Yorkers and bowling according to the field set up. And at the same time, it’s not just about slogging, when it comes to scoring in the Powerplay, its all about placing the ball in the gap to score easy runs.
In a nutshell, there are no hard and fast rules as to when one should take the Powerplay, there is no standardized pattern for scoring quick runs. One may be up for it from the word go while the others may think about it in the later stage. Same goes with the Powerplays too. It really depends on the game situation as well as the mindset of the captain as to when does he want some zing in the scorecard. Therefore it would be safe and perhaps logical to take it when one has the opposition pestered under the claw. Its presence still continues to haunt the Indian Team, and hopefully it works out for us now that we are in the Knock Out stage of the tourney.
1) Limiting the number of yorkers a bowler can bowl in a game.
2) A short ball will result in direct ban on the bowler and he will be suspended for at least 3 ODIs and a Test Match. Extra penalty if it is pacy one.
3) There will be a limitation on the amount of turn one can extract out of the surface. Any amount of turn exceeding the prescribe limit will be given as no-ball and the entire over will be declared Free Hit (to be called free over).
4) Compulsory length bowling in the death overs, and 2 mandatory full tosses per over in the middle overs (from over 16 to 40) so that the boundaries are not dried up at any point in time. Any violation of this law would amount to full cancellation of the match fees along with a coaching session with Ajit Agarkar who will teach the basics on this law.
But seriously, are we overlooking the role of a bowler in Cricket by framing such rules, just for the sake of Crowd entertainment ?
The Powerplay was introduced to eliminate the element of boredom that the crowd faces in the middle overs (between overs 16-40 – that’s approximately 2 hours). Crowds get bored especially on a hot sultry afternoon. In order to keep the crowd involved in the game, they made this rule of batting powerplay. But it seems that no captain is adventurous enough to take it in the middle overs, and they usually keep it till the very end.
Many sides think that the ideal time for the batting Powerplay is when you actually want to go berserk, say in the last few overs. And hence we see most sides preferring to take it in the last 6-8 overs. When you sift through the batting line ups of major sides, you will see the number 7 and 8 are either hard hitting batsman or all rounders. India has Yusuf, Harbhajan, Pakistan has Afridi and Razzaq etc. Similarly many sides have hard hitters because they feel that it’s the amount of depth in hitting factor in the batting line up which is of utmost importance when one takes the Powerplay. And since it’s the last batting pair, it will be a key how they utilize the powerplay.
Some sides also don’t mind going for it as early as in the 35th over, when the ball is changed, its hard and new, and it comes nicely onto the bat. They believe that the powerplay will be of very little help in the end as they can anyway get 9-10 an over even without the powerplay on, so it’s better to use it early. But teams don’t prefer it when they fear losing a wicket in the middle overs, as if a wicket falls, the powerplay will be wasted.
However, in some games against the minnows, we see sides taking the powerplay as early as in 20-25 overs. They feel that it’s their best batsmen at the top who can utilize the powerplay to the fullest. And if a wicket falls, they can send in a pinch hitter for some quick runs and the balance of the line up is not altered as the crease occupiers and nudgers could play their normal game once the Powerplay is over. But as I said, it’s a good tactic only against weak opponents who have very little experience in death bowling and which can be taken to the cleaners even without the Powerplays.
We have also seen sides being very flexible in their approach. They tend to analyze the game situation, and then take the powerplay on basis of their pensive instincts and strategy. Many captains are hesitant and there is a sense of apathy when it comes to taking powerplay early, and it is generally postponed till the final overs for the ultimate burst.
The whimsical nature of this exciting powerplay brings in so much enthusiasm in the crowd. There is an air of petulance in the opposition camp when the batting Powerplay is signaled by the umpires. It’s always a daunting task to restrict the opposition from scoring, by keeping a lid on the scoring rate during those five overs, but it can happen if one is able to pick up wickets on a regular basis. This decision of the captain can go terribly wrong and backfire miserably, but his decision should not be condoned marking it as a blunder as this powerplay is obviously an unpredictable phenomenon and anything can happen while it is in operation. We have seen sides score 80-90 runs, and we have also seen sides losing 4 wickets for 10 odd runs too, this just goes to show how topsy-turvy it can turn out to be. But more often than not, it’s the batting side that comes on top.
It’s an asset while one is chasing as an asking rate of 8-9 can be easily grasped hold of, if one has the Powerplay left. But it can also make a 6-7 runs an over look difficult in case you don’t have wickets left because there won’t be easy singles on offer and one has to take the risk and go over the in field to score easy runs. All in all, it’s a tester for both the sides as to who blinks first. It is still a mystery which none of the team has mastered. It acts as a catalyst when one wants a big score but at the same time has the tendency to swerve the balance of the game elsewhere. It’s an art to bowl in the Powerplay, with a lot of subtle variations, good Yorkers and bowling according to the field set up. And at the same time, it’s not just about slogging, when it comes to scoring in the Powerplay, its all about placing the ball in the gap to score easy runs.
In a nutshell, there are no hard and fast rules as to when one should take the Powerplay, there is no standardized pattern for scoring quick runs. One may be up for it from the word go while the others may think about it in the later stage. Same goes with the Powerplays too. It really depends on the game situation as well as the mindset of the captain as to when does he want some zing in the scorecard. Therefore it would be safe and perhaps logical to take it when one has the opposition pestered under the claw. Its presence still continues to haunt the Indian Team, and hopefully it works out for us now that we are in the Knock Out stage of the tourney.
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