T20 not the yardstick

During our time there was a saying in the game of cricket "andha kandha bhai, amar dosh nai”, which means “I will hit blindly, do not blame me”. Modern T20 is nothing but rugby cricket—just hit and run, does not matter how the ball is. Particularly in the death overs, when you have no alternative other than to hit and run. For the batsman, although he has the opportunity to play 20 overs, due to the need to accelerate the run rate or to chase the total, he becomes rash.   

In T20, one can claim to be a very good bowler who at least has an average of 2 wickets per match. Quality bowlers can only be judged primarily through test matches and even one day internationals, where a bowler is allowed to bowl 10 overs. The same goes for the batsman.

Warner, due to his batting and fielding, and above all his unique leadership, made all the difference. Only Adam Jumpa has an average of 2 wickets per match with a T20 record of 6 for 11. Fizz has only one wicket on average with 17 wickets in 16 matches. 

One may have a low run economy per over but with few wickets (like Bapu Nadkarni during our school and college days)—he is not termed as an excellent bowler. On the other hand someone who has a good number of wickets with a reasonable runs per wicket is a good bowler. We need to look at every aspect to determine who really is a quality bowler. 

But both the print and electronic media are reporting Fizz's 3 for 16 runs in a match as the best over in the tournament, when there were 6 for 11, 4 for 7, 4 for 11 and more like this. I hope The Daily Star will publish my letter showing bowling figures of the top bowlers in IPL 2016. The news that was attached showing bowling figures of the top 5 bowlers only mentions in the descriptive text the names of B Kumar, Chahal and Watson, but has not mentioned the name of other bowlers in the list  like Kulkarni, Fizz, Maccalaghan 
and Bravo. 

Luthfe Ali