The International Cricket Council's revised rules governing Power Plays and one ball from each end will be employed in the 2011 Challenger Series for the N.K.P. Salve Trophy which begins at the Vidarbha CA stadium here on Monday.
Gautam Gambhir and S. Badrinath, captains of India Red and India Blue which will battle it out on Monday, need to factor in these changes when devising their strategy. The India Red skipper, who is yet to arrive in the city, is expected to reach in time for the opening day-night game. For Badrinath, the implications of the revised rules have just started to sink in.
“There are so many aspects to the rules that I will come to grips with it as the match progresses,” he said, referring to Power Play calculations the team leaders will have to keep track of, amongst other multiple responsibilities.
As per the revised rules governing ODIs, after the mandatory Power Play in the first 10 overs, the teams have to take the bowling and batting Power Plays (five overs each) after the 15th over and complete them by the 40th over. Earlier, the sides were allowed to take the bowling and batting Power Plays after the completion of the 10th over.
DECISIVE ROLE: Shikhar Dhawan, Gambhir's deputy, was positive about the rule changes benefiting the game. “The rule changes will bring in a sense of fairplay, help the bowler play a more decisive role in ODIs.
“With Power Play not in force from the 41st over, bowlers can perform a lot more freely. Cricket is supposed to be loaded in favour of the batsmen, but the bowlers will also have a say now,” Dhawan said.
The other change — using one ball from each end — will mean that the opening batsmen hoping to get cracking against the hard ball need to rethink, pointed out Dhawan.
The India Blue player, a free-stroking batsman who likes to dominate the bowling, said: “The quality bowlers who are able to move the ball will be effective as the ball will retain its sheen.”
Irfan Pathan, one of the most experienced hands in the India Blue attack, was eager to play under the revised rules.
MORE ENTERTAINING: “It will be like a 25-over game with the new ball. The art of reverse swing with the old ball will reduce. As a bowler, I should not be saying it, but I am looking forward to the challenge.
“Limited-overs cricket will be more entertaining for the crowd with the batsmen likely to hit more boundaries and targets getting re-arranged,” said Irfan, who is on the comeback trail.
He is fortunate to have an able leader like Badrinath, who gets the best out of his players. “Past performances in Challengers have been recognised. I am up for it and hope to take my team through,” said the India Blue skipper.
The teams: India Blue: S. Badrinath (capt.), M. Vijay, Paul Valthaty, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Mandeep Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Y.V. Krishanatry, Prashant Parameshwaran, Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava.
India Red: Gautam Gambhir (capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund, Ambati Rayudu, Ashok Menaria, Wriddhiman Saha, Jalaj Saxena, Piyush Chawla, Bhargav Bhatt, Pankaj Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, T.P. Sudhindra, Yusuf Pathan and R.P. Singh.
India Green: Harbhajan Singh (capt.), Robin Uthappa, S. Anirudha, T. Suman, Mohnish Mishra, Ishank Jaggi, Mohd. Kaif, C. Gautham, Sarabjit Ladda, Iqbal Abdulla, Abhimanyu Mithun, Samad Fallah, Ishwar Choudhary and Sumit Narwal.
The schedule:
Oct. 10: India Blue vs India Red; Oct. 11: India Red vs India Green; Oct. 12: India Green vs India Blue; Oct. 13: Final.