In a high-scoring affair, Punjab Kings defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets at the iconic Eden Garden stadium on Friday, with Shashank Singh and Jonny Bairstow leading the way. PBKS also broke the record for the highest successful run chase in T20 history, surpassing the 261-run mark with 8 balls to spare.
The clash between KKR and PBKS will certainly go down in the history books as a reminder to teams that even a 250-plus total is not safe target in the tournament anymore. The match featured 42 sixes and all four openers went past the 50-run mark.
Seeing the thrashing of bowlers by both the teams, veteran off-spinner and Rajasthan Royals bowler R Ashwin sounded a ‘SOS’ alarm requesting someone to please ‘save the bowlers’.
Elaborating about the gravity of the situation in another post on X (formerly Twitter), Ashwin wrote, "It’s run a ball for the last 2 overs of a T 20 game in a chase of 260 +. Let that sink in."
Meanwhile, Ashwin's comrade in the RR dressing room, Yuzvendra Chahal also chipped in the discussion by reacting to the spinner's original post with a GIF that stated ‘Sab Bhagwan ji ke hawale’.
This IPL season has been characterised by high-scoring matches, with Sunrisers Hyderabad already topping the 260-run mark on three occasions and posting the highest total in the tournament's history. Meanwhile, other teams in the cash-rich league have also frequently crossed 200 and even 250, while even senior bowlers such as Mithcell Starc, Locke Ferguson and Kagiso Rabada have struggled to restrict the flow of runs.
Numerous players and former cricketers have also come out against the Impact Player rule which was brought into effect last year. In a now famous interview last week, India skipper Rohit Sharma had said, "Eventually, cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I am not a big fan of 'Impact Player', you are taking out so much from the game just because of a little bit of entertainment, for people around,"
Recently, former Australian captain Aaron Finch had also spoken out against the rule saying, “I am not a big fan of the Impact sub rule. It is going to hold all rounders back, eventually cricket is played by 11 players not 12 players. You are taking out so much from the game to make it entertaining for people around.”
