Rajasthan Royals bowler Sandeep Sharma welcomes two bouncer rule which was introduced in the IPL 2024 season.
Sandeep Sharma backs Two bouncer Rule in IPL
Sandeep Sharma feels that a two-bouncer rule per over would keep the batters guessing about upcoming balls which restricts their ability to predict the bowler’s plans.
He also said that the batter would not be able to commit to a shot even though would have used one of the two short balls.
“The bowlers have got some help with it. Earlier, the batters were able to predict where the bowler would bowl if he had used his one-odd bouncer already. It would be easier for the batters to predict the bowling,” told Sandeep on media.
“But with two bouncers, the batters are also in two minds that there is still one bouncer left for the bowler to use,” he said
“Talking about the (batter’s) body weight, even if you have not executed it and the body weight has not yet been transferred, the bowler can still be on the safer side. Hence this rule is beneficial,” he said.
“When I came into this team, I knew that I would get less opportunity with the new ball. I practiced a lot in nets on my slower bouncer, yorkers, and death bowling,” he said.
“This is a matter of mindset. Like if I knew that I would get to bowl more with the new ball, then I would practice more on that. The mindset would be that I have to bowl in powerplay, only two fielders are out. So what plans should I take or make?”
“And then, when I know that I have to bowl more after the powerplay, then I practice in nets and the mindset is the same that which deliveries I have to start.”
“If I am bowling with a new ball, then I will never start the first ball on the wide line. The ball should finish in the line of the stumps,” he said.
“But today, I started the first ball from the wide line, so if the management already clears you or you already know where you have to bowl the majority (of overs), then it becomes easy to prepare,” he said.
Meanwhile, LSG’s vice-captain Nicholas Pooran said that having awareness of this situation will be the solution. He was brought into the squad for INR 16 crores in the 2024 auction. He smashed 64 runs on 41 deliveries during their match against RR where the Rajasthan won the match by 20 runs.
“It’s a good rule. Especially when a guy comes into bat, it’s effective. If someone doesn’t like the short ball, you can pepper him with a couple of them,” Pooran said.
“But in saying that, we as players and bowlers need to do our homework as well. Some batsmen, they like the short ball as well,” the West Indies batsman added.
Coming to the tournament, all teams have completed their opener match with Rajasthan Royals standing top in the points table concerning Net run rate.
Rajasthan will be playing their next match against Delhi Capitals on March 28 at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium.
