The Importance of the Penultimate Over

Penultimate over i.e. the second last over and in the case of a T20, the 19th over of an innings has nowadays gained more importance than even the last over of an innings. In the shorter format of the game, games more often than not finish in the last over. But its the penultimate over where the game actually changes. The penultimate over has gained much importance in this year's IPL as 3 games turned on their heads in the penultimate over.

The first one was when Royal Challengers Bangalore were playing the Chennai Super Kings. Chasing a target of 207, the Chennai Super Kings required 43 off the last 2 overs. RCB were almost certain to win it as their skipper Daniel Vettori threw the ball to part timer Virat Kohli. Albie Morkel from CSK took full advantage of the part timer's penultimate over as he smashed Kohli for 28 runs and then got the remaining 15 runs in the last over to seal the match. RCB lost that game in the 19th over more than the 20th.

The second instance came when the Mumbai Indians were playing the Kings XI Punjab. Mumbai Indians were chasing a target of 168 and required 32 runs off the last 2 overs with 4 wickets in hand. Punjab were favorites as the bowling team is expected to save 32 runs from 12 balls in a high pressure situation. Piyush Chawla bowled the penultimate over in which Rayudu and Peterson together plundered 27 runs and ultimately won the match for MI.

And finally the third one was probably the most shocking one. Delhi Daredevils were playing Rajasthan Royals in their backyard. Needing 153 to win, RR were cruising at 138-2 with Rahane batting well on 74. With 15 required off 12 balls with just 8 wickets in hand and one of the in-form batsman playing in his 70's, you can bet your life on that team's victory. But it was not to be as South African speedster Morne Morkel came out to bowl the penultimate over and he produced a gem of an over. He gave just 3 runs in his last over picking up one wicket and left Rajasthan to get 12 off the last over which is always tough for the batting team. And ultimately Rajasthan managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as Delhi pulled off a miraculous win out of nowhere.

We have seen how the penultimate over can change the course of the game completely. Captains of teams who are on top till the 18th over often take the 19th over lightly and then end up giving away all the hard work in that one penultimate over. T20 is a very fast paced game and matches can change in just 5-6 balls. Its important for the players not to leave everything for the last over. Try to finish games in the penultimate over as it is the penultimate over where games are mostly won and lost.

West Indies- On the Right Track

The Australian tour to West Indies has come to an end. And contrary to expectations, Australia did n't win everything that was up on stake. The 5 match ODI series was squared 2-2 which the West Indies had a very serious chance of winning and which they probably could n't win due to some mad running between the wickets by the no. 11 in the tied game. The 2 match T-20 series was also tied 1-1. Australia just managed to take the test series 2-0. Though the scoreline suggests the series might have been one sided but it was not so. The West Indies fought valiantly and did n't give easy victories to Australia. Although Australia is far from the side they used to be 7-8 years back but still they are a tough team and West Indies have clearly given a strong message that they are not mere pushovers.

West Indies have got some really exciting players like Darren Bravo, Rampaul, Sammy and then the senior pro Chanderpaul who recently joined the 10000 club. West Indies throughout the tour pushed Australia and made them work very hard to earn the victory. And especially the one day series where at the end of 4 matches WI were leading 2-1 including a tied match which WI should have won.

West Indies it looks like have atleast shown signs of improvement in the shorter versions of the game. In  the longer version their performance was good in patches but to win a test, they needed to perform well for a longer period of time which they did n't do.

In the past 1 year West Indies played 21 ODI's and managed to win 9 of them including 7 victories against the top teams like Australia, India and Pakistan. In the last 3 years West Indies won just 19 out of the 62 ODI's they played. The win % goes up from 30.64% in the last 3 years to 42.85% in the last 1 year. SO the improvement is definitely there. In the last 1 year WI lost 6 out of the 13 tests they played while in the last 3 years they lost 14 out of the 26 tests they played. Thus the loss % comes down from 53.8% in the last 3 years to 46.15% in the last 1 year. The improvement in tests has not been very great but the fact that it exists is alone satisfying.

The West Indian players are showing that they are capable of beating the best in the world but they have not been clicking as a unit which is their main shortcoming. The pitches in West Indies remain sluggish, low and slow which is one of the reasons why West Indies have been on a downfall since the past decade or so.

But the future looks bright. Some players like Narine, Cooper etc are showing their skills in the IPL and they might as well help the West Indies win more tests in the time to come. West Indies have been at their lowest worst in the past decade and now they can only go up from here.

Switch Hit- Should it be legal or not?

Mumbai Indians secured a thrilling last over victory against Kings XI Punjab yesterday at Mohali. 27 runs were scored off the penultimate Piyush Chawla over where Robin Peterson switch hit Chawla for fours and sixes. The Switch Hit where the batsman turns around to switch sides has been a controversial topic ever since it was played in international cricket.

The Switch hit was probably introduced by Kevin Pietersen around 2006-07 and he has been the one who plays it regularly. But following him many batsmen are now playing the stroke to hit boundaries. So is it legal for a batsman to switch sides and become a different handed batsman?

While there is no clear law in cricket regarding the switch hit so maybe there should not be any fuss regarding this shot. But I have some problems with the switch hit. Let us consider a right handed batsman who is a very good leg side player but not so brilliant as an off side player. The opposition captain tells his bowlers to bowl an off side line to prevent him from hitting boundaries. The batsman finds himself unable to hit boundaries. So he suddenly switches to a left handed batsman, finds the off side pitched ball onto his legs and thus easily puts the ball over the ropes. In such a scenario what can an opposition team do?  Obviously you can't set fields for a switch hit.

Now consider another scenario. A right arm bowler is bowling to a batsman who does n't like left armers and is better off playing right arm bowlers. The right arm bowler suddenly puts the ball in his left hand and dismisses the batsman. But this is not allowed in cricket. A bowler has to mention which arm he will use to bowl to the umpire before the over. But the batsman is not required to tell whether he will bat right handed or left handed. Thus a batsman can switch sides whenever he wants but the bowler cannot do so. Is n't it a tad unfair? A bowler develops a new kind of delivery but he is greeted with suspicion where his action is monitored and he is not allowed to bend his arm more than 15 degrees. But the batsman has the freedom to turn around or hit the ball any way he wants.

The game is already becoming more and more of a batsman's game. And shots like switch hit contribute in making a bowler even more helpless. Cricket becomes a battle between batsmen not teams.

In my opinion switch hit should be legal as long as the batsman does n't change his grip. After that even if the batsman switches his side it will rather look like a reverse sweep. Atleast the batsman's hands would be crossed and he would n't be able to free his arms and hit the ball as hard as he can when he changes his grip too.

Changing the grip should be made illegal or else allow even the bowlers to change their bowling hand whenever they want.