In what should be music to Virat Kohli’s ears, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar says the present Indian Test team is the best in the history of Indian cricket. Gavaskar has also backed Kohli’s view on the ‘soft signal’, lauding the BCCI for doing away with the rule this IPL.
Kohli was vocal in his stand against the ‘soft signal’ in the recent series against England. “The soft signal becomes that important and it becomes tricky. These are decisions can change the course of the game, especially in big games. We were on the receiving side today, and tomorrow it could be some other team,” Kohli had said after the fourth T20I.
Delivering the inaugural ML Jaisimha lecture on Monday, Gavaskar, who got emotional and broke down twice recounting the last moments he spent with Jaisimha on July 7, 1999, said that BCCI must’ve been asked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to see how it works at the domestic level.
“Probably if it works out, they may make it a permanent fixture,” he said.
Gavaskar also said that the game in its current form is heavily tilted in favour of batsmen. “The boundaries should be made bigger. I remember when we were playing in Sharjah batsmen like Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd were caught on the boundary. Now, even mishits are sailing over. So if we make the boundaries slightly bigger, it’ll be better for the bowlers.”
He also advocated a better look at the bouncer rule in limited overs cricket. “It’s a weapon for the bowler. Like a wide is judged, so should the bouncer before it’s called a wide lest bowlers will not use that option. That allowance should be made.”
Gavaskar also wanted no extra runs to be given to the batsman if a fielder effects a direct hit and the ball ricochets – recognise the fielder’s effort and call it a dead ball – and penalise runs for team not lax over-rate.
