Jacques Kallis, not known for his wit or dry humour, cracked the legendary “15 runs short” joke to lighten the mood once South Africa returned to the dressing room at the Wanderers in Johannesburg before their 435-run chase in 2006.
Coach Mickey Arthur and the leadership group used whiteboards and calculators to set clear milestones. A fearless counter-attack thereafter put the Australian bowlers under psychological pressure, resulting in their meltdown.
South Africa won by one wicket with one ball remaining, signalling a significant change in the way ODI cricket was played. Since that match, there have been four occasions when teams batting second have crossed 400.
Thrice teams chasing have won, the last two successful chases having been achieved in a space of less than a month and more than 20 years since the first instance. Sri Lanka achieved the ‘unthinkable’ on Thursday when they reached the 430-run target in Rawalpindi.
Given that 400-plus totals are no longer considered insurmountable, they will continue to be hunted down with unrelenting precision and regularity.
With less than a year to go for the 50-over World Cup, is 400 no longer a safe target? Or is it the new normal in this format? What is contributing to the batters’ aggressive mindset and daring approach? Is T20 cricket causing a structural shift in the ODI format, which has long been struggling for space and relevance?
Baseball impact
Modern-day white-ball cricket shares certain stylistic and strategic similarities with American baseball, focusing on power-hitting and specialised roles for players and coaches. This has been exemplified by the advent of coaches in cricket with baseball backgrounds — Julien Fountain and Mike Young are a case in point.
They replaced traditional, conservative methods with dynamic mechanics used by Major League Baseball’s outfielders and infielders. Besides improving fielding and catching techniques, the ‘power stance’, which includes a wider and deeper base to increase gravity-assisted momentum and maximise the length of the swing arc to generate explosive speed, has worked wonders.
John Buchanan, who was Australia’s coach during the 2006 contest at the Wanderers, hired Young, whom he had worked with at Queensland, as part of his support staff. His methods worked wonders in the game’s shorter versions.
The technophile coach’s analytical methods, which he saw as “natural progression”, had proven too much for the traditionalists during the late Nineties and the early part of this decade. He regarded cricket as an unfurrowed paddock in respect to research and development, and predicted a day when the game would be played very differently.
On Thursday, when Sri Lanka and England amassed 859 runs in an ODI, India successfully chased down 226, their highest T20I target in another far-flung continent. This implies the deluge of runs is not just limited to 50-over cricket.
Imbalance in rules
Batters all over have been throwing caution to the winds, unleashing high-risk innovative shots and turning every match into a six-hitting festival. “One of the big things about T20 cricket is not having the fear of getting out,” Brendon McCullum had once been quoted as saying.
This high-octane batting has already sounded a death knell for the bowlers across formats. It prompted Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir to recently sound a warning.
“Look, if I have to be absolutely honest, I feel I think there has to be a bit more contest between bat and ball, because I think you talk about cricket but this is not cricket, this is only batting,” Gambhir said on Star Sports after India’s record 406 chase in the second ODI against the West Indies in Guwahati.
Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 223 off 133 balls, his second double century in the format.
“Obviously, for the records it’s outstanding, for the crowd it’s outstanding, for the broadcaster it’s outstanding, but if you ask me as a genuine cricket fan and as a coach, I have to have sympathy for the bowlers as well... it’s not fair for the bowlers.”
Gambhir has pointed fingers at the wickets on offer, almost as a thumb rule. While batters have been adventurous, some rule changes have also contributed to such tall totals. The growing imbalance between bat and ball has been a topic of much debate.
“Bowling is really tough in today’s cricket when compared to batting.
“Two new balls (until the end of the 34th over) and five fielders inside the circle till 40 overs... If these restrictions were in place when Sachin Tendulkar was playing, he could have added a few more thousand runs,” former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, a veteran of 90 Tests and 288 ODIs, told The Telegraph during the 2023 World Cup.
“The use of two new balls has loaded the game heavily in favour of the batters. Remember, there’s one disadvantage for all pacers which none talk about... It is that they don’t get to reverse swing with the two white balls in place.”
Under the revised playing conditions, two new balls will be used from the start of an innings until the end of the 34th over. After the 34th over, the bowling team will choose one of the two balls, which they will use at both ends from overs 35 to 50.
The ICC said the aim of this change was to “readdress the balance between bat and ball” though it has hardly been of much help.
An interesting set of data showed up in a recent study of top-order efficiency in ODI cricket.
In 50-over matches before 1990, the average ODI opener’s innings was 30 in 51 balls. In the 1990s, this changed to 31 (46 balls), in the 2000s to 32 (41), in the 2010s to 35 (41), and in the 2020s to 38 (39).
This is going to improve further when the next set of calculations emerge.
Short boundaries
Sunil Gavaskar has often spoken about the boundary distance, which has been reduced from the conventional 75 yards to 65 at various venues. Given the impact of modern bats, even mishits can travel considerable distances, Gavaskar argued.
What could have been a catch has resulted in a six on numerous occasions.
T20 cricket has brought about a dramatic shift in batters’ skill set and mental awareness, irrespective of formats. An average score of 350-plus during a day’s play in Test cricket is the new par total, something unimaginable a few years back.
Chasing in excess of 400 in ODIs is considered feasible as the batters’ mindset continues to evolve. They tend to be more dynamic and creative.
But the balance between bat and ball needs to be restored. Until that happens, the game is broken. Kallis’ “15 runs short” banter will continue to inspire generations.