Mumbai T20 | Sachin Tendulkar feels batting side should also be penalised in final 'strike' fiasco

05/27/2019

Sachin Tendulkar believes that the batsmen don't get penalized sufficiently when they breach the rules of the game, unlike the bowlers. He said this following a strange incident in the Mumbai T20 league when the bowler denied a wicket even though the batsmen were at fault.

In the second semi-final of the Mumbai T20 League between Sobo Supersonics and Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburb, a controversial incident became the highlight of the game which caused Sachin Tendulkar to speak out on the rules which he believes favour the batsmen more than the bowlers.

SoBo Supersonics was firing on all cylinders with a score of 158/0 in the 15th over when Hersh Tank's cramps required the attention of the off-field medical staff. When they had cleared the field, Hersh Tank took strike even though the other opening batsman had taken a single off the last ball in the previous over.

No umpire having realized the folly, the over started and Tenk was dismissed off the first ball of the over. But since he was not the one who was supposed to be facing the ball, the umpires declared it a dead ball. Thus, the bowling team was robbed of a well-earned wicket through no fault of their own.

"Whatever I saw, I saw for this for first time and then I started thinking what could be done and it cannot be a dead ball. But the rules are such, whatever happened it was the right thing to happen at that moment," he said after witnessing the incident.

"But I was just thinking what could be that one change which can be implemented in time to come and I feel if three fielders are there in the circle, the umpire never tells them that you need to have the fourth fielder in the ring and it's called a no-ball and there is a free hit. So the fielding side is penalised for that," Tendulkar said.

Bowlers are penalized in various cases, such as when they have more than the allowed amount of fielders outside the 30 yard circle, when the ball hits the wicket keeper's helmet lying on the ground, and so on and so forth

"But when the batters don't go to their respective ends, why isn't the batting side penalised? I think the batting side should also be penalised. And what is the maximum that one could score off each ball is possibly 7 runs, which is a no ball of previous delivery and a free hit. So maybe here also it should be seven runs penalty for the batting side and then they change the ends," Tendulkar explained passionately.

"The umpires don't tell the batters. With today's technology the third or fourth umpire should be in a position to communicate with the leg-umpire and tell him the striker is supposed to be at the non-striker's end," he said, placing the blame on the officials, and probably rightly so.

"The batting side needs to be penalised for that and ensure that the ends are changed," he concluded.