With the modern day ODI innovations of changing the ball after 34 overs, the batting powerplay and the advent of the T20 game, gone are the days when bowlers held sway in the slog or death overs of a limited overs game.
Now, there’s almost no possibility of bowlers getting reverse swing and with the field drawn up in the batting powerplay – generally taken in the last 5 overs of the innings – a target of even 10 odd runs an over appears to be a cakewalk. Add to this the fact that the T20 game has taught cricketers that no total is un-gettable and ODIs are no longer an even contest between bat and ball.
A few good overs and even 12-14 runs an over can be achieved. Even if you don’t have too many wickets left, some lusty and charmed hitting in the batting powerplay sees the ball sailing all over the ground mostly to the bowler’s disadvantage. Will we ever see the spectacle of a pair of bowlers, like Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, changing the course of a match with deadly reverse swing at the death?
I doubt it. However, ironically, although the contest is no longer even between bat and ball, what it has done is that it’s made the game more evenly poised between the big teams and the not so big teams. The difference between mediocre sides and great ones is at times only because of some great bowlers – think Glen McGrath, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis – and once the bowlers are no longer as potent as they used to be then you have more evenly matched sides. At least in the limited overs game.
Consider the results of the last 4 ODIs played in United Arab Emirates and Australia. South Africa and Australia were the favourite teams while Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the underdogs. We’ve seen Sri Lanka pull off a miraculous win against Australia where they were 107 for 8 chasing a target of 240. Lasith Malinga and Angelo Matthews pulled off what must be ranked as the biggest heist in the history of ODI cricket by scoring 132 runs in quick time to leave the Aussies totally hapless. In the process they also managed to break the existing world record for the 9th wicket between Syed Kirmani and Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup.
In a similar manner underdogs Pakistan managed to snatch two improbable victories (both by the slimmest margin of one wicket with only one ball to spare) against South Africa in the 2nd and 4th ODIs of their 5 match series. In the 3rd game although Pakistan was unable to pull off a victory but they got so close to winning that cracks started to appear in the much vaunted South African fielding and bowling.
It looks as if the big guns have started feeling the heat and evidence of choking has been evident in all of the last 4 matches. What does this imply for the future?
Watch out for the 2011 World Cup to be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. On low, slow and batsman friendly tracks we might well see a new Champion emerging in place of the once mighty Australians (3 consecutive World Cup winners), especially since they are no longer as mentally tough and dangerous as they used to be.
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