‘Fast bowlers tie bowling ball with one hand’: Gavaskar sounds alarm over T20 imbalance

The balance between bat and ball is once again in the spotlight in modern cricket, Sunil Gavaskar There are strong concerns over how much the game now favors batsmen in the T20 era.With big scores becoming commonplace in the ongoing IPL 2026 season, with totals above 250 being no longer considered safe, Gavaskar feels the bowlers will be left with little protection. The former India captain pointed to shorter boundaries, tighter fielding restrictions and the increased power of the modern bat as the main reasons for the growing imbalance.In his column for Sportstar, Gavaskar specifically questioned the current interpretation of the wide-bouncer rule. According to him, fast bowlers are unfairly penalized when the short ball is just above the batsman’s head.“A ‘wide ball’ requires the bouncer to barely go over the batsman’s head. It’s like asking a fast bowler to bowl with one hand tied behind his back,” Gavaskar wrote.He believes that while there is still plenty of room on the pitch to push the boundaries further back, the strict laws put bowlers under greater pressure. Gavaskar suggested that the pacers should be given a little more leeway while bowling to the bowlers.“If the rules can be adjusted to allow fast bowlers to have a margin of one foot above their heads in batting position, roughly the length of the bat handle, it will give fast bowlers some relief and encourage them to keep shooting,” he added.Gavaskar also recalled the early days of limited overs cricket when bouncers were banned altogether. He recalled how lower-order batsmen were promoted as replacement batsmen because they knew the bowlers could not attack them with short pitches.“This is not to pat me on the back, but when I took over as International Cricket Council president, other members joined me in bringing bouncers back into the format, albeit one each for each batsman. The shunt batsman disappeared. More importantly, the bowlers got back one of their weapons,” he wrote.The batsman further questioned why bowlers should face restrictions when batsmen are free to try any shot they want.“You don’t restrict the batsmen from taking any shot, right? So why restrict the bowlers from trying all the varieties of bats they have?” Gavaskar said.The former opener also appealed to Sourav Ganguly, urging the current International Cricket Council president to consider taking steps to restore balance to the sport.“So, come on, Sourav Ganguly, when you chair the next ICC Cricket Council meeting, please think about the bowling fraternity as well,” Gavaskar concluded.