This year’s IPL is in full swing. The 200-peron score has been seen 15 times in the 35 matches till Saturday. Of these, 250 runs have been exceeded five times. This rampage of batsmen in IPL is a joy for the spectators but threatens the equality of battle between batting and bowling.

Sunil Gavaskar has advised the BCCI to ensure that the IPL does not become just a batsman’s game. The legendary batsman of India said that there should be as much competition as possible between batsmen and bowlers.

In this year’s IPL, the five times the team has crossed 250 runs, three of them are from Sunrisers Hyderabad. The latest is against Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. Hyderabad’s two openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma scored a record 125 runs in the first 6 overs on the way to 266 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs.

Many have suggested changing the shape of the bat to rein in the run-fest of the batsmen. But Gavaskar feels that the bowlers need to think more. In a discussion with Anjum Chopra, the Indian legend said, ‘I will not ask to change the shape of the bat. It is within the rules. As I have been saying for a long time, increase the boundaries in every field. Look at this field today. Here the boundary rope can be stretched a few meters further. If the boundary is a little higher, the difference between a catch and a six can be understood. A 2-3 meter boundary can be extended behind the LED or advertisement board. That will make the difference. Otherwise the bowlers will be in agony.

Gavaskar thinks that T20 batsmen now bat like practice, “I have seen for the last few years, T20 batting is like the words of the coach in net practice, “go and play the last round”. Then everyone started swinging the bat equally. It doesn’t matter whether it is out or not. It feels good up to a point. But when it gets too much, then the excitement doesn’t work anymore.’