IPL 2016 has been quite an eventful season this time around. While it was the good things that people took note off, there were some sad events as well that caused controversies. With an aim to make IPL 2017 an even bigger hit and avoid many of those man made issues, listed further are 5 improvements that we would wish to see in IPL 2017 – after all it is Cricket that wins in the end.
IPL 2017 News
- No signing off the players – IPL 2017
Somewhere around the mid-season of 2016, many of you must have heard that teams have signed off players (read as younger players) from the team. Mainly because all the teams has chosen their key 18-20 players and were sure that the rest wouldn’t get a chance to play. But our question is – was giving youngsters a chance to play the only reason IPL was formed? No.
Even if a youngster doesn’t get a chance to play, he still gets to share the dressing room with the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and many others. The experience of sharing the dressing with such talents is no less than learning by playing a game. Therefore, from IPL 2017 no player should be signed off (unless there is a valid reason).
- Introduction of Bonus Points – IPL 2017
We saw teams winning from huge margins this season. Be it a win in less than 15 overs or win with a margin of over 100 runs. Huge wins like these can’t be appreciated by net run rate alone. It can rather be appreciated by awarding an additional bonus point to the winning team.
This will not only make the tournament more exciting, but also keep all the teams in the fray for the play-offs spot till the very end. As we were sure that each match will only fetch two points this season, there wasn’t much excitement left for teams at 7th and 8th spot. But with an opportunity to get that additional point, players would go all out in crunch situations.
- Alternative to Duckworth-Lewis Method – IPL 2017
If there is one rule that has been in controversies in the sport of cricket across all the formats – then that is Duckworth / Lewis or the D/L Method. This method is said to offer an advantage to the chasing side. Latest person to lash out at the use of this method was former New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming. We feel a need for look out should begin throughout the world to come up with a more reliable method at times of rain/delay.
- Decision Review System – IPL 2017
One man who had been unlucky in IPL 2016 was Quinton de Kock. Couple of times he was wrongly given out and on both occasions, DRS or Decision Review System could have saved him. DRS system has been opposed mainly by Indian team and the BCCI, as it is not reliable to get accurate decisions.
With BCCI being one of the richest board of cricket, we expect them to invest in a technology that is better than DRS. With so many technological advancements, it is now time for India to be leaders than followers. If something is not good, let’s build something better, test it at one of the biggest platforms – IPL. This will make the sport error-free and more exciting as we get to see fair results.
- Mid-Season Transfer Window – IPL 2017
How many matches did the likes of Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Imran Tahir get to play this season? Hardly any. But these players could any day be featured in any of the world’s best teams. To ensure that players of such caliber don’t get wasted – we suggest to have a Mid-Season Transfer Window.
Dale Steyn wasn’t fitting into the combination of GL team, then he could have easily been transferred to a team like RCB who badly needed a pace bowler and they ended up singing Chris Jordan in the end. Introducing this system will make the team management value their players and chose only the right players for their team.
These are the 5 changes that we propose to bring in to the rulebook of IPL 2017. All the suggestions mentioned above are personal and you are completely free to share your views on the same and also suggest if there is any change that you would like to see in IPL 2017?
