Increasing the bouncer-limit will help bowlers in shorter formats: Kumar Sangakkara

The shorter formats of the game are now becoming increasingly difficult for bowlers. The decks prepared are mostly good for batting, boundaries are shorter, and the penalties imposed upon the bowlers in case of errors, even of the finest margins, are cruel as well.

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Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara believes the authorities need to relax some rules to make the job of the bowlers easier in the shorter formats and he has suggested about increasing the limit of bouncers in an over as a possible solution to give the bowlers some much-needed breathing space in the T20 and T10 formats in particular. 

“I think allowing another bouncer in an over will be a really good change to make in the T20 and T10 formats,” Sangakkara told cricxtasy.com in a virtual interaction facilitated by the Abu Dhabi T10 League, which was attended by representatives from other media houses as well.

“I have seen debates on whether the bouncer will completely go out of cricket because of the batsmen’s safety. So, we have to see whether this one-bouncer rule will change but it will be a really welcome move as allowing a second bouncer will obviously keep the batsmen guessing,” added the 43-year-old, who is mentoring the Abu Dhabi side in the Abu Dhabi T10 League starting later this month.

Recently, a lot of players like David Willey, Harry Gurney, and Mohammad Amir among others have given up their ambitions of playing Test cricket and have switched their allegiance to the shorter formats completely.

They have coped sheer amount of criticism too for ignoring the purest format of the game but Sangakkara believes that people need to respect their decisions as they are private individuals as well and a lot of their decisions are made due to personal reasons. 

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“I think it is very difficult to live life or make decisions without criticism, whether it’s destructive or constructive really,” Sangakkara continued.

“As cricketers, in the public eye and limelight, you have to live with the decisions you make. But you have to ensure that the decisions you make are for the correct reasons as well.

“A lot of these decisions are made at the personal level and that’s what we need to understand. At the end of the day, they are private individuals as well, even though they are what they are because of the love of the fans. 

“With hard decisions to make in terms of career, finances, longevity, and earning capacity, they will have various responsibilities and duties to themselves and their family,” the Sri Lankan legend added.

However, Sangakkara believes that the authorities need to create a good payment structure for Test cricket in order to keep players motivated in playing the format and also to market the format better.

“Australia, England and India offer good remuneration for Playing international matches whether it is Tests, ODIs or T20Is, but the remuneration isn’t so good in the other countries. So, the decision of the players to play franchise cricket around the world is influenced by that too.

“It is necessary to promote Test cricket and inspire the younger generation to keep their ambitions of playing this format burning and alive. The boards have to ensure that the financial rewards of playing Test cricket are enough. Otherwise, there will always be comparison and more players will shift towards the shorter formats and franchise cricket.” he concluded.