Bowlers too need say in one dayers

The cricket World Cup finally came to an end after a winding journey of 47 days, giving us some moments to savour and some moments to ponder over.Fourteen teams vied for the ultimate prize in world cricket, and Australia, rather expectedly, emerged winner. The co-hosts produced ruthless cricket, particularly in the three knockout matches, to grab  their fifth world title. But other teams too had their moments under the sun. As for India, pundits and fans had given up on the team after their miserable run in the Test series against Australia and in the tri-series ahead of the quadrennial big bash. However, M S Dhoni’s wards marched their way in to the semis before stuttering against the Australians.

But New Zealand, perhaps, gave us the story of the Cup. The Kiwis have always been a considerable force in one-day format, especially so in the World Cup having featured in six semi finals before this edition. This time, they went one step further, dishing out a wonderful and aggressive brand of cricket under captain Brendon McCullum. They did not just defeat their rivals, but bruised them with power cricket. Afghanistan and Scotland too gave us a few joyous clips of time, playing a wholehearted game. But those apart, this World Cup failed to produce enough classics. New Zealand’s close encounter with Australia in the league phase was one, Kiwis’ thrilling win over South Africa in the semis will be etched in memory and Bangladesh’s knockout punch on England too will be remembered. But not many others stick to memory.

There was this overwhelming feeling that the 14-team format made the tournament a tad cumbersome and meandering in nature. In that context, ICC’s decision to limit the next edition (2019) to 10 teams is justified as that may give us more evenly contested and a crisper event. But the ICC also has to take some steps towards restoring the balance between bat and ball, now overtly leaned towards the former. This World Cup alone has seen two individual double hundreds, two totals in excess of 400 and several others over 300. Apart from few incisive spells from the likes of Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult and Tim Southee, bowlers were wiped off from the picture. The world governing body should think of steps such as abolition of the rule that stipulates the standardisation of pitches, allowing more fielders outside the circle during Power Play and other times, and putting a curb on the size of the bats etc. Such measures are imperative because otherwise the clan of good bowlers would soon be extinct.