Cricket has been a part of our lives for as long as we can remember. The sport has offered each and every one of us some very exciting times, some tough times and even some sad times. Whether it’s Akhtar's potent fast bowling or Tendulkar's glorious drives, the supporters just can't get enough of the beautiful game. However, its hard to believe that the game that excites us so much has changed so much right before our eyes. The gradual evolution, has led to some serious controversy and debate within the cricketing world. Bowling and Batting, the two sides of the coin, just don’t seem to offer the same value anymore. In fact, the commercialization of the game is not for the good of cricket itself but for the so-called "entertainment".
Well, whatever the ICC tried to achieve by introducing new rules, they clearly didn't work out as was expected. Consequently, there is a greater imbalance in the modern game as there ever was before. Cricket has now become nothing but a “Batsmen’s Game”. And the disadvantaged bowlers have little left to play with now.
The bigger and thicker bats, the shorter boundaries, the introduction of two new balls, and the ingenious review system has literally "choked" the bowlers of our generation. All they have left to rely on now is pure skill and orthodox methods to outsmart the batsmen. But, quite surprisingly, bowlers have lived up to the expectations against these insurmountable odds. In fact, most of them have still managed to amaze us with their talent and ability.
The recently conducted cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand clearly proved that the "entertainment" factor of cricket is, in fact, limited. Much was expected of the World Cup and while some of the matches provided awe and excitement, many of them were a huge disappointment to say the least. The team which won the toss, would almost every time bat first and post mammoth totals, which clearly showed dominance of the bat over the ball. The chasing team would succumb under pressure and each match would be won by a huge margin. There was no "close finishes" and only a handful of "classic matches" in the most anticipated event of the year.
Regarding the one-sidedness of the world cup, Michael Holding, the West Indian ex-cricketer-turned-commentator said: "How can someone say that CWC15 was the best world cup ever. It was not even close. With such one-sided games the true 'entertaining' nature of the game has eroded. The game lacks the thrill now."
It was certainly not the World Cup management committee's fault. In fact, the problems lie in the roots of the whole thing. The responsibility of each and every "boring and one-sided" match goes all the way back to the rules made by the ICC.
It's just that with such rules, the concept of cricket isn't true any more. The two new balls were offered by the ICC to "even out things" but that too wasn't successful. The recently retired Srilankan Legend, Kumar Sangakkara, said in a recent interview: "On wickets that don't swing and seam, the new balls just stay harder for batsmen to hit farther. The spinners very rarely get turn anymore, unless you're a wristspinner. You rarely see reverse swing. A lot has gone out of the game." It just seems that everything the ICC does or implements, ends up damaging the spirit of the game.
Such an issue can be very unhealthy to say the least. Unfortunately, it can be foreseen that soon, the number of youngsters striving to become bowlers would decrease quite a bit, unless the ones "responsible" for such a disaster come up with something for the bowlers and that too, in quick time.