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Opinion

'Chaos and T20 cricket go hand in hand': Four changes T20 needs to make

Roar Rookie
23rd November, 2021
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Roar Rookie
23rd November, 2021
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I have often wondered why bowlers in T20 matches are restricted to four overs while batsmen can bat the whole innings.

I see no justification for this, so my first proposal is that we allow any bowler to bowl up to ten overs.

This could change the game dramatically.

Do you select a team with three specialist bowlers and go all out with the batting? Or keep a similar mix to what we have now? The selection strategies would make the game more exciting.

We weren’t the best team over the World Cup and really only won the semi-final and final because of Aaron Finch’s ability to accurately predict which way up the coin finished.

It’s history now that ten out of 11 winners at Dubai International Stadium bowled first, with only Scotland losing to New Zealand when they failed to chase 172 (even then the Scots only fell 15 runs short).

In fact, the only significant wins by a team batting first in the whole tournament was South Africa beating England, who failed to chase 189 in Sharjah, and Sri Lanka beating the West Indies, who also failed to chase 189 in Abu Dhabi.

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So it appears the game of T20 cricket is offering a significant advantage to the team that wins the toss. How do we fix this?

My second proposal is that the team losing the toss is allowed to nominate one player from the opposing team who is limited to four overs.

This could cause a little chaos if you’ve selected a team with only three genuine bowlers but chaos and T20 cricket go hand in hand.

My third proposal is that in the event of a tie after 20 overs each, a super over is conducted as per existing rules, but the team that lost the toss only needs to tie the super over to win the game, whereas the team that won the toss needs to score one run more to win.

Finally, fielding (particularly outfielding) has come a long way in the last few years and now provides some of the most spectacular and exciting parts of the game. So each team should be able to nominate two fielding substitutes that can come on at any time but are able to bat, bowl or keep.

Imagine allowing a fresh Jordan Silk to replace Mitch Marsh in the field with six overs to go.

These changes could be applied to ODIs but would have a lesser effect on the game. T20 is the money spinner, so it needs to be kept fresh.

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