Rajasthan Royals mentor says that people feel for bowlers and that ruled need to be tweaked to make it a fair contest between bat and ball
Some very high scoring games were seen in the 2015 ICC World Cup and this season's IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore's 235/1 against Mumbai last week may still be fresh in the mind. There are only so many variations that bowlers can make.
Former India captain Rahul Dravid felt that it's unfair to the bowlers and rules need to be tweaked a bit in order to make it a fair competition between the bat and ball. "It's getting to a point where people are starting to feel for the bowlers. There need to be some rules that helps bowlers. I don't know for sure, but maybe increasing the height of the seam may work.
I don't know if changes needed to be made immediately, but I definitely think that it needs to be monitored," Dravid told dna in an exclusive interaction at an event for a furniture brand at a city hotel on Thursday.
In the World Cup, the laws allowed two bouncers to be bowled an over. The battle between Pakistan's Wahab Riaz and Australia's Shane Watson in the quarterfinal was a delight to watch. Dravid felt that two bouncers an over should be allowed in Twenty20 as well.
"You need to allow two bouncers in an over. It is a real weapon for the bowler. If they bowl a bouncer in the first ball, then the batsman knows that there isn't going to be another one. That eliminates the fear-factor," he said.
Another issue is the size of the bats that are used now-a-days. Even mishits go for a boundary. But Dravid doesn't see any wrong in that. "The quality of bats has improved a lot over the years. The kind of research and technology that goes into the process of making the final product is amazing. Today you get some really big bats that pick up really light. We Indians are spoilt in that sense because we have the best manufacturers in the country. But I like light bats. I think I had the lightest bat except for may be Gautam Gambhir."
Talking about the IPL, Rajasthan Royals, of which Dravid is the mentor, had just seen a change in captaincy last game. Steve Smith wore the captain's armband from Shane Watson. And Dravid said this was because Watson already has many roles to play.
"Watto (Watson) felt he had many roles to play. He bats at the top of the order. He has to bowl. He has to bowl even at the death. It was becoming very hectic for him. And so he decided that it would be best for him to focus on his batting and bowling.And Smith was the obvious choice after him (Watson)."
On the Kevin Pietersen saga, Dravid said the issue will be forgotten if England win the Ashes this year. "Obviously what happened is disappointing from the fans perspective. I've played with him and I think he's outstanding. I never had any real problem with him. He's an asset to any team. This whole thing seems a bit strange. It has only put a lot of pressure on the England & Wales Cricket Board. This will bite them badly if they fail to win the Ashes. I think they should be allowed to choose the best team they can."
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