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“Money”, “Glamour” and “Entertainment”. These words come to mind when talking about T20i cricket. The shortest format brings lots of activities around it. It also attracts criticism. There are some rules in T20i which make that format biased to one team. One of the criticism is “toss”.
There are other rules in the format which give undue favor to one team. Now, look into some laws which may make cricket predictable or provide partial benefits to batters/bowlers.
Most Debatable Rule in T20I is “Toss”
In the recent past, the toss becomes a perennial debate among cricket folks. It is observed that many matches have been won by a team that wins the toss in the first place. It gives undue favor to one team and the other side has hardly a chance to win it.
Additionally, the dew factor makes a major impact on the game. Dew comes in the night games so the ball gets wet. If the ball gets wet then bowlers can’t ball properly. Most of the time, the dew comes into play when a team bowls second in the inning.
It also plays a pivotal role with the rain-affected match. Due to wet ground, the pitch favors the bowlers. It is easy to bat on this type of pitch. The match between Pakistan Vs India in T20i-World Cup 2016 was rain-affected. India had an early advantage and put Pakistan to bat first. The 22-yards were dumped due to water. It was impossible to bat on it because the ball was turning massively. India won comprehensively.
World Cup 2021 and Tosses
In T20i-World Cup 2021, the toss also played a vital role in the whole tournament. The champion – Australia – won the 6 matches out of 7 in which they enforced their opponent to bat first in six games. They only lost a single game in which they put to bat first against England.
Moreover, the entire competition went the same way. Out of 32 matches, 23 times matches were won by the second batting with winning the toss also. Interestingly, there are 13 matches were played in Dubai Cricket Stadium where 12 times the chasing side won the game. Only New Zealand managed to defend the target against Scotland.
The stats show how the one factor, that is solely dependent upon probability, makes cricket predictable. And, there is saying “Cricket by Chance”. It may be ruined by that rule of T20i.
ICC need to Change the Rules in T20I
There is a lot of discussions among the critics to amend the rules in T20i. Nowadays, winning the toss is to win the match. So, what should be done to counter this? Few experts suggest that important matches like the semi-finals and finals need to be played in the day. In the day, the dew factor will be nullified and make the contest equal.
Another suggestion is to give some bonus runs to the team which is at the disadvantage of it. Or one of the teams should decide which team wants to take advantage of it. Then the one team gives bonus runs to another team which may compensate for the disadvantage of it.
Rules in T20I Cricket Favor Batters
It is fun to watch fast cricket, batters hitting the ball out of the park now and then. But cricket is not only for batters or for entertainment purposes. There are a few rules which hurt the bowlers especially. “Free Hit” is one of them. No-ball is a crime in a shorter format when the free hit is available for the batters. It hurts the bowler that he/she needs to bowl again and even he/she cannot take a wicket on that bowl. That rule can change a match drastically in one’s favor.
No-Ball is fair enough but giving the next a free hit is just unfair for the bowlers. In cricket, there is no one type of no-ball. There are many ways to bowl a no-ball. If the wicket-keeper hits the stump accidentally then a no-ball, bowler hit the stump while delivering his bowl it’s a no-ball, and some other ways too. ICC needs to modify the rules and give some relief to bowlers.
Cricket is a sport and every sport is meant to testify to each player’s strength rather than depend on the luck/fate of something.
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