Bouncer is a vital a part of the sport: Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), insists the bouncer stays an integral half in a quick bowler’s armoury, and outlawing it won’t assure gamers’ security.
The former Sri Lankan captain’s feedback assumed significance as a result of it comes at a time when MCC, liable for framing guidelines governing the sport, have already begun a session course of to debate whether or not bowlers needs to be permitted to bowl short-pitched deliveries.
“Cricket is a sport that requires courage, so it’s not just the bumper that at times poses danger to players. The pace of the cricket ball is such that you can get hit on various parts of the body and can cause damage. So, I’m not really sure whether taking the bouncer away from cricket will improve players’ safety. I think it is a critical part of the game, one that allows a specific type of challenge between batsmen and bowlers,” the batting legend, who joined Rajasthan Royals forward of this IPL season as director of cricket, noticed.
The tragic dying of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes after being hit by a Sean Abbott bouncer throughout a home match six years in the past was the set off that initiated a debate on gamers’ security protocols.
The MCC evaluate was prompted when Steve Smith suffered a concussion after being hit on the pinnacle by a Jofra Archer bouncer within the 2019 Ashes. Young Australian Test opener Will Pucovski was concussed after getting hit by Indian pacer Kartik Tyagi final 12 months.
Mike Atherton, former England captain, and one of the vital authoritative voices in worldwide cricket known as for the stability to be maintained between ball and bat.
“Will Pucovski’s latest concussion is a reminder that the game carries risk; that a short ball can be dangerous; that not every short ball need represent an opportunity to score; and that batsmen must give some thought again as to how they best combat that problem. The answer is not to outlaw the bouncer, but to undertake a recalibration of how some batsmen can best counter it. The Pucovski problem can start that conversation anew,” Atherton wrote in The Australian.

For lengthy, the bouncer — which offered a stern problem to batsmen —- has showcased among the most enjoyable periods in cricket. With time, the variety of bouncers allowed has decreased significantly —from limitless to the present specification of permitting two in Tests and one in shorter codecs per over.
“It adds a different dimension and an exciting dynamic to the challenge of facing a fast bowler. It also gives the bowler options in terms of how he can make other deliveries useful. Forget the sense of thrill. It’s the competition and the dynamic that it provides to the game,” the MCC president provided.
Recently, concussion specialist Michael Turner, the media director of the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation, had urged authorities to contemplate banning the usage of bouncers in opposition to gamers beneath the age of 18 as a way to restrict long-term problems.

Sangakkara reckoned such a blanket ban may doubtlessly have severe ramifications. “You have to be careful that if you take it away from junior cricket, then when a player progresses he/she will have absolutely no idea on how to play the short-pitched delivery.”
Modern-day calls for
Why are so many batsmen getting hit on the helmet by the short-pitched deliveries? It’s a query that’s piqued the curiosity ranges of followers and pundits in equal measure. Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar urged the entrance press set off motion as the explanation. Sangakkara provided his views. “I think it is the modern day demands of batsmen having to take on the fast bowlers more often to score runs off deliveries that batsmen in the past would have ducked or let it pass.”
Another purpose cited by Sangakkara is the quantity of research that groups typically do on opposition gamers. “If a batsman shows that he is susceptible to short-pitched bowling, bowlers tend to target him.”
Sangakkara defined how the ICC was supporting producers in order to attain a standardisation in tools that meets worldwide requirements. “The ICC is conducting research and doing all that they can to support manufacturers, because standardisation of cricketing equipment is vital,” he added.