Shayan Ahmad Khan, Jarrod Kimber
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Dale Steyn tweeted during the first match of IPL 2024 that the addition of a second bouncer in the over for bowlers could make it a long IPL for some batters. He went on to explain that it was counterintuitive to find a way slowly in the T20 format, and that striking faster would cause problems for “front foot bullies”.
The appeal of watching a fast bowler run in and bowl short is eternal. It adds to the entertainment value for the casual fan who just wants to see more sixes and wickets. For the cricket nerd, there is the allure of bowlers planning each ball to set a batter up.
BCCI first allowed two bouncers per over in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023-24. In comparison, T20I matches allow only one per over. In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Jaydev Unadkat it was a “very small change with a huge impact”, simply because it allows the bowler to bowl a short ball in the first half of the over, and keep still the batters guessing about the possibility of a bouncer.
Consider how Jasprit Bumrah dismissed David Miller on Sunday. It could have been a combination of not reading the slower ball and hanging a bit on the back foot. It’s like the idea of Bumrah having bouncers up his sleeve deceiving the batters as much as Bumrah’s actual bouncer, because he only ended up bowling two short deliveries in his quota of four overs in that game.
Picture Credits – JioCinema
Picture Credits – JioCinema
Picture Credits – JioCinema
On the other hand, his teammate Gerald Coetzee did not shy away from it. The short ball is one of his USPs because of the pace he generates, so it makes sense for him to utilize it even more now.
On the other hand, his teammate Gerald Coetzee did not shy away from it. The short ball is one of his USPs because of the pace he generates, so it makes sense for him to utilize it even more now.
Picture Credits – ESPNcricinfo
Speaking of using the short ball, Royal Challengers Bangalore seemed to think that was a fairly obvious plan against Shivam Dube. In fact, the Chennai Super Kings left-hander was on 7 off his first 13 deliveries, which included 10 balls of seam from Cameron Green, Alzzari Joseph and Mohammed Siraj. Seven of those happened to be short (or bouncer) length deliveries, while three were back of a length.
At one point, CSK needed 46 off the last five overs, and RCB kept peppering Dube with the short stuff. However, he managed to get a few away to the boundary, scoring 27 off his last 15 deliveries, even if he wasn’t always in control for some of those shots. Anil Kumble pointed out in Jio’s post-match show that RCB didn’t have fields set for the short balls that they bowled. They didn’t have close-in fielders (like at short leg), and didn’t always have fielders in the deep on the leg side either. So that perhaps played a part in making it feel “overused”.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Steyn said that he would like bowlers to target attacking batters more. But how often are all fast bowlers using the short ball now?
In the limited sample of the first five games of IPL 2024, the frequency of short balls is 18.86%. The overall figure for IPL 2023 was 11.10%, so there does seem to be a trend of using it more. In IPL 2023, batters scored at a run-rate of 13.19 and an average of 26.25 against short balls. After five matches this season, the corresponding figures are 13.84 and 25.00.
The sample sizes aren’t comparable, but there doesn’t seem to be a significant difference yet – something Steyn had mentioned to ESPNcricinfo.
“You are still going to see teams scoring 180, 190, 200. It’s not like teams are going to get all out for 120.”
However, more bouncers also mean that batters can take hits to their helmets more frequently. Both KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal were pinged by Trent Boult’s bouncers in the Powerplay on Sunday. In fact, Boult went on to dismiss Padikkal right after bowling a short ball. The wicket ball was also on the shorter side, but it didn’t bounce as much, and Padikkal attempted to pull it with his feet stuck in the crease.
When Sunrisers Hyderabad faced Kolkata Knight Riders in Kolkata, Pat Cummins bowled a delivery that rose off a length in the 15th over of the innings, and a slower ball bouncer to Andre Russell along with a couple of full deliveries. Russell scored just 2 runs off these 4 deliveries.
Russell faced Mayank Markande in the next over and took him down for three sixes. Legspin hasn’t been a problem for him off late – coming into this match, he had scored 109 off 50 deliveries against legspinners since the start of December 2023, and been dismissed just once. He then continued his carnage against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan at the death, two bowlers who don’t bowl the short ball as often.
Although this rule change is largely seen as a positive for the bowlers, the way bowlers utilise their skills will be key. You can’t expect to bowl short deliveries to someone like Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill, and then hope things would work. Both the batters and bowlers will have to adapt, overcome and improvise as the IPL faces a barrage of short balls.
ENDS
