The Indian Premier League has earned enormous fame around the world. This shorter version of cricket is massively popular, and players from all around the world are desperate to take part in this competition. However, the 17th Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to start from March 22 with some new rules.
There will be a “Two Bouncers in an Over” rule in the IPL 2024, which has already received widespread praise from cricket pundits.
Two Bouncers in an Over!
In the Test and ODI formats of cricket, a bowler can bowl two short balls/ bouncers in an over. But ICC permitted only one bouncer per over in the T20 format.
Since the start of the IPL, they followed ICC’s short ball rule until the previous season. But IPL has announced that they will allow a bowler to bowl two bouncers in an over.
A bouncer or a short ball is like a secret weapon for pacers. Many experienced batters do not feel always comfortable facing bouncers. Therefore, IPL’s new rule will surely give a pacer an extra advantage this year.
Former Indian pacer and former coach of Chennai Super Kings, Laxmipathy Balaji, shared his thoughts on Cricbuzz about the Two Bouncers. He said, “It’s an excellent move. It will be a good addition to the armoury of fast bowlers and will provide bowlers, captains, and coaching staff with something to strategize and work with for a particular batsman. It will also make the contest between bat and ball much more balanced.”
In death overs, pacers usually rely on yorkers. They try to bowl as many Yorkers as they can. But now they have the freedom to bowl more than one bouncer. “Bowlers often resort to yorkers in the death overs. Now they have one more option. With world-class fast bowlers participating in the IPL, it will be exciting to witness the contests,” said Laxmipathy Balaji.
Former South African speed star, Dale Steyn has also appreciated this new decision of allowing two bouncers. “A bouncer and a yorker go hand in hand. If you get [the one] bouncer out of the way too early in the over, the next ball that immediately comes to your mind is the yorker, because now the batter knows you can’t bowl a length ball and he is not expecting anything short. Everything is now going to be in his half,” Dale Steyn said in an interview with ESPN.
Steyn also thinks a bouncer could be more dangerous than a yorker. He explained, “If you are bowling a yorker, the ball can go anywhere. If you don’t execute it well, Dhoni hits you for a six over long-on. You can bowl a perfect yorker and you can still get hit for a boundary over fine leg. Whereas with a bouncer, setting the field is much easier to control: you know the shot is potentially going to third man, deep square, fine leg. There are not many guys who can hit a bouncer over long-off or long-on – the percentages of that happening are extremely low.”
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