Indian skipper MS Dhoni has admitted that the revamped ODI rules are indeed making the art of slogging very difficult. Dhoni, who himself has struggled while timing his big shots recently, felt that due to the presence of an additional fielder on the boundary in the last ten overs, the chances for success while slogging have diminished.
“Now as we are seeing in the 40th to 50th overs, it’s not easy just to go in and slam the big shots and get 80-90 runs. You’ll see most of the sides saying, ‘Last 10 if you are chasing, you shouldn’t have more than 65 runs or 70 runs’. That also you have to have a good day,” Dhoni said.
Dhoni, however, said that the nature of slogging may vary depending upon the surfaces. “But it may change, depending on the wicket, the amount of reverse swing that the bowlers are getting here if it’s not there then maybe they will score a bit more. Or if the bowlers don’t execute well. But on a good day, when they are bowling well, it will be very difficult to get something like 80 or 90 in 10 overs. That used to be the case with the previous rules,” said Dhoni.
Dhoni technically analyzed the situation by saying that due to slower pitches, it was an added incentive for the bowlers to bowl short in the death overs. “And more than the short deliveries, it’s the length deliveries that’s more difficult to hit because with the reverse swing, the bowlers they can actually cramp you. Even the ones that are short, they are short enough, but they don’t get to the same height [as the batsman is expecting] which means you have to take that risk of playing the big shot. So it’s like the new strategy that has been put by a lot of sides,” said Dhoni.
“On a slower wicket, it’s not easy to play the big shots and these are the bigger outfields. And that scuffed up the ball, it doesn’t come off the wicket so when you dig in short you have to play the big shot and it’s not easy to always clear the boundary. So with the new rule changes, with that extra fielder outside, the batters who come after especially the 40th over, straight away if they are supposed to go in and play the big shot they’ll find it difficult,” Dhoni said.
“Bowl just back of a length, slip in the odd yorkers, but as of now on these conditions and these wickets, it’s something that’s really working. But it’s important to be ready with a plan B because it will work, but you don’t know how long it will work because batsmen will also look to try and get new ways of scoring runs and you may not get the same kind of reverse swing in every game. The ball won’t get scuffed up in every game so all of a sudden when you play on a wicket with a bit more pace, you can use the pace of the fast bowler. In smaller outfields, maybe the fast bowler will find it slightly difficult to have the same strategy,” concluded Dhoni.