After the first few matches of the Indian Premier League, when Brendon McCullum played an extraordinary innings of 158 not out with 13 sixes and then Michael Hussey followed with another quick-fire century, the feeling was that bowlers would have a tough time to stop being clobbered and slapped around at will by batsmen with a license to go for the kill straightaway. For a while, it seemed as if the bowlers too had given up and were prepared for the inevitable. 

But as the tournament progressed the pendulum swung towards the bowlers and they are now playing an equally important role in the game. It all started with the metronomic accuracy of Glen McGrath and Mohammad Asif and the guile of Shane Warne and backed by some good captaincy, the pressure was on the batsmen to get them away.

The big hits were still there but not as frequent as in the first few games. Slowly as water finds its own level, so also the scores in the tournament were getting to be a far more accurate picture of the tussle between bat and ball. The earlier 200 plus or totals near that were being replaced by scores between 170 and 185 which is a far more accurate reflection of the contest in this format of the game.

Batsmen are no longer finding it easy to hoick the bowlers away, for the bowlers have now learnt the line and the length to bowl, though when the concentration lapses, or there is a bit of tiredness creeping in, they will give the batsman what he wants. They know that there is a very little margin for error in this ultra short format of the game and one bad over can cost their team the match.

It was therefore pleasing to see that the contest for the Ceat cricketer of this week had more bowlers than batsmen. The bowlers have had a big role to play in the tournaments middle stages and they have also picked up the man of the match awards for their efforts which is great news for a fraternity that has seldom got the plaudits that they deserve in the game.

Not many would have given a bowler much of a chance of picking five wickets in an
innings in this format of the game, where he gets just four overs to bowl. But Team Jaipur seamer, Sohail Tanvir has gone one step further by capturing six wickets in the innings and setting up an easy win for his team against the leaders, Team Chennai. That outstanding performance wins the Pakistani the CEAT International Cricketer of the Week award.

Source: The Times of India, Mumbai, 11th May 2008

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