Cricket World Cup 2019: 3 reasons why the number of boundaries should not be the only deciding factor

The Mecca of cricket - Lord's - witnessed one of the most thrilling World Cup finals ever. One that was filled with twists and turns, prayers and slogans, dancing and singing and several nail-biting moments.

After all the drama, it was England that emerged as the winner to clinch their maiden World Cup title. The thrilling encounter was historic in many ways - England won their first World Cup ever and it was the first World Cup final to result in a tie. A hard-fought super over too couldn't separate the two as that too resulted and ended up in 15-run a tie. The ICC's rule for a super over tie says that the team with more number of boundaries in their respective innings should be declared as the winner.

Should the number of boundaries in an innings be 'The Factor' that decides a winner and in this case the World Champion?

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#1 The rule focusses just on batting and not on any other aspect of the game

The current rule emphasizes only on one aspect of this otherwise multi-dimensional game and that is batting.

Considering the number of wickets taken by the team, the number of extras conceded in wides, no-balls and byes, the runs saved, the number of catches dropped and number of overs team batted for along with boundaries scored in that match makes it a bit fairer and complete, as it covers every aspect of the one-day game. The technology infrastructure required to measure runs saved is already in place with sophisticated tools like CricViz used during this World Cup.

A formula could be designed with a different weightages assigned to each of the above factors and could be used for comparison in case of a super over tie.

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#2 Batting style and approach differs from batsman to batsman

Batting style and approach differs from batsman to batsman

No two batsmen are the same. There are differences in their technique, style and the way they build their innings. Say, for instance, the modern-day greats - Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler, both score a century off 80 deliveries in a match between India and England. Kohli's game is centered around quick singles, doubles, and occasional big hits. On the other hand, Buttler's game is more about hitting fours and sixes.

Will it be fair to hand over a victory to England in case of a tied super over? A batsman can be equally lethal without hitting too many boundaries. To a team with more number of such batsmen, the most number of boundaries rule is unfair.

Teams like England, Australia, and West Indies have batsmen that mostly rely on power-hitting and are always more likely to have a higher boundary count when compared to teams like New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

#3 50-overs format vs 20-overs format

The concept of super over was born out of the T20 format

The concept of a super over was born out of the T20 format. A format characterized by the pyrotechnics of batsmen. A format wherein hitting as many fours and sixes as possible forms the core feature of the game.

On the other hand, the 50-overs format is more about building the innings and forming partnerships with consistent rotation of strike in the middle overs and focussing on boundaries only in the first and last 10 overs.Thus, judging a winner based on the number of boundaries is in line with the T20 style of play but extending it to the 50-overs format does not make much sense as there are a lot of other factors that influence a one-day match.

Considering just the number of boundaries for a 50-over match is as good as analyzing just 20 overs of an inning and that too just batting.