Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has shared his valuable insights on increasing the boundary size in India to better prepare for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2027 so that the batsmen can get a better feel of the major tournament, as some of the venues in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia have larger boundaries and the dimensions of the fields will also be different.
The upcoming tournament will be held from October 4 to November 21. Apart from the ODI World Cup in 2027, Australia and New Zealand will host the T20 World Cup next year. In domestic conditions, the boundaries on the Indian side will be longer than usual and the conditions will also be challenging.
Sunil Gavaskar explains how to increase the size of the limit
Writing in his Sportstar column, Sunil Gavaskar said that as the new season of the India national cricket team begins, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) needs to change the boundaries and increase the size, as there is a lot of room for people to walk behind the LED advertising boards.
Gavaskar wrote in his Sportstar column, “When the new Indian season starts, it is absolutely essential that the size of the boundary is increased so that our batsmen can get used to it before the World Cup next year. On almost every ground, there is a lot of space for people to walk behind the LED advertising board, so this tells you that if this space is utilised, the size of the boundary will automatically increase.”
Why might Indian spinners be helped by increased boundary dimensions?
He also pointed out that the bigger boundaries will help the spinners bowl a little slower, and the medium pacers can also use their slower ones and cutters a little better, and it will not go into the stands as easily. Sunil Gavaskar gave the example of Adil Rashid and Will Jacques.
“This will give our spin bowlers the opportunity to bowl a little slower so that they can get the loop and turn that the slower ball produces. The medium pace darters they bowl currently really help the batsman use the pace, get under the ball and power it into the stands. Adil Rashid and Will Jacks bowled about 8 to 10 km/h slower than the Indian spinners and so they were much more effective than them.”
“It is important to play smart cricket”- Sunil Gavaskar shares valuable information for Indian batsmen
Sunil Gavaskar also pointed out that the Men in Blue batsmen need to play the game with their heads and choose to play safe cricket against the best bowlers. He does not need to rush into the ODI format as he may target slightly weaker bowlers in the line-up to compensate for the previous overs, as he believes that no team has the five best bowlers in the line-up.
“It is important to play smart cricket. So, find the bowler who does not need to counter-attack. Then target the bowlers against whom you can compensate for quiet overs from the better bowler.”
Sunil Gavaskar said, “No team in the world has five top bowlers, and in a T20 game there will always be eight to 12 overs where runs can be squandered. Similarly, in the 50-over format, even if the team is chasing a big score like 380-plus, a little patience will not hurt.”
