CHENNAI:
Marylebone Cricket Club
's (MCC) move to restrict the thickness of willows in a bid to ring parity between bat and ball hasn't gone too well with many players.
Former New Zealand all-rounder
Scott Styris, currently donning the role of a commentator at the ongoing
Tamil Nadu Premier League
, wasn't in for the idea.
"I think it's crazy. There are other ways of restricting a player who is good enough to use these bats. They can make conditions in favour of the bowlers or even push back the boundaries. Also, a bigger bat doesn't mean that you are going to score runs all the time," said Styris, who represented New Zealand in 29 Tests, 188 ODIs and 31 T20s.
MCC's decision means that players such as MS Dhoni, David Warner, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard may have to seek fresh set of willows as their current bats' edges exceed 40 mm which is the approved limit. Interestingly, the likes of
Virat Kohli,
AB de Villiers,
Joe Root and Steve Smith don't have to alter their bats as their current ones are within the prescribed specifications.
While Styris came down heavily on the guardians of the game, his face lit up when he spoke on the performance of young gun - Washington Sundar. "He is a perfect example of what this tournament has to offer. Washington did well for Tuti Patriots last year, and performed exceedingly well for Pune this year. He was able to raise his game while playing against the best in the world during the IPL. What a find he has been. I would be surprised if each of the teams in IPL (next year) don't look closely at players who are currently playing in TNPL," Styris said.
He felt hosting games in Tirunelveli and Dindigul were the best way to take the game to the districts. "It's a packed house for each game and watching players such as Washington will definitely inspire many to take up this sport," he said.
The Kiwi all-rounder is impressed with the way defending champions Tuti Patriots have gone about their campaign this season. "They definitely are the team to beat. Be it their spinners or the top-order comprising Kaushik Gandhi and Washington - they have been spot on. Despite not having players such as Abhinav Mukund, Dinesh Karthik and even L Balaji--- the others have put their hands up and grabbed their opportunities," he said.
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