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Bowlers are marginalised in the T20 arena but they are the real game-changers

We're constantly told that in theory, winning a T20 cricket match should be a relatively straightforward process. This is, after all, the shortest format of the game where brawn is relied upon more than brains.

Hardik Pandya celebrates the wicket of Liam Livingstone in the T20 international between England and India on July 7, 2022.© Reuters
We're constantly told that in theory, winning a T20 cricket match should be a relatively straightforward process. This is, after all, the shortest format of the game where brawn is relied upon more than brains. For further proof of this sentiment, you only need to take into consideration the rather simplistic slogan: see ball, hit ball which has become the mantra of batters who trudge out into the middle to bat for their teams.

The conventional wisdom doing the rounds in the T20 game suggests that it is batsmen who win matches owing to their ability to clear the ropes. But has the cricketing world got this wrong? Has the excitement of seeing white Kookaburra balls being hit for six distorted the truth about who the real game-changers in a T20 match are?

A bowler's perspective

Of course, bowlers will say yes but it's also worth saying they do have a tendency to feel like victims when it comes to the T20 format. For instance, you will often hear bowlers bemoan the fact that cricket has turned into a batsman's game. There is an element of truth to this given that modern MRF bats are unrecognisable when compared with the ones that Sir Donald Bradman used, whilst the shortening of boundaries does little in the way of comforting a bowler. But irrespective of the agenda that bowlers feel is against them, they are, in fact, the ones who hold the key to winning a T20 game.



You will know this is the case if you've ever watched a scintillating run chase that is being dominated by the bat. It looks for all money that the batting team will canter to victory but then comes a fall of wickets courtesy of some skilful bowling. When this happens, all momentum is lost whilst the required run rate begins to skyrocket. The batsmen that are now in charge of keeping their team on course for victory have the luxury of only a couple of balls to get their eyes in before they need to begin clearing the boundaries again.

At this stage, the bowlers are in complete control and with a variation of slower balls, cutters, and yorkers, are able to ensure that their team wins the game as the opposition's run chase spectacularly fizzles out. This was the case when England beat New Zealand in the group stages of the ongoing Emirates T20 World Cup in Australia after Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood derailed the Kiwi charge with an inspired spell of bowling. In fact, it was such an impressive display by England with the ball that their odds on winning the World Cup fell dramatically following the conclusion of the game with Betway, as of the 1st of November, pricing Jos Buttler's men at just 11/4 to go all the way. Essentially, this come-from-behind victory tells us that it is the teams with well-balanced bowling attacks that are tipped to win the tournament.

The team that wins the 2022 World Cup will have the best bowling attack

This trend can be observed again by focusing on South Africa's recent win against India in the World Cup when they smothered the Indians right from the very first ball to restrict them to a paltry 133/9 in 20 overs. Following this win - as the BBC recaps here - that was set up by inch-perfect line and length from the bowlers, South Africa's odds dropped sharply to 13/4 despite being at an outside price of 11/1 only two weeks prior. Of course, these examples aren't intended to prove that batsmen don't play their part because they do but the inescapable truth is that big-hitting T20 batsmen are a dime a dozen whose heroics are often in vain if they can't rely on accomplished T20 bowlers who are, undoubtedly, in short supply.

Once a team has them, however, their chances of winning significantly improve as the most recent T20 World Cup prices attest to.

So for all the talk of cricket being a batsman's game and despite a string of rule changes that, admittedly, do raise a few eyebrows in terms of how fair the contest really is between bat and ball, the irrefutable evidence is that bowlers are the ones that decide the outcome of a match.

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