Simon Taufel wants one bowler to bowl five overs in T20s to bring balance; rejects the impact player rule

Former ICC Elite Level Umpire Simon Taufel advocated for a significant T20 cricket rule adjustment that would restore the bat-ball balance.  

The 54-year-old stated that authorities should think about permitting one bowler to bowl five overs in a Twenty20 match because the shortest format has completely changed in favor of the hitters over the past few years.

Every bowler is now only permitted to bowl a maximum of four overs, but Taufel believes that if one player is granted the opportunity to bowl five overs, the game may take on new dimensions and provide fans with something to look forward to.

According to Taufel, in a format where bowlers are constantly under tremendous strain, it is only just that they be granted some indulgence if a batter can bat for the entire twenty overs.

“Look, me personally, I've made a couple of suggestions to a couple of different leagues, which are still yet to be given the time of day. But I'd love to see—I'd love to see again—bat and ball be more equalized in limited-overs cricket.

I'd love to see in T20 cricket one bowler bowl a fifth over. You know, if a batter can be out there for the whole innings and score 100 from ball number one, we're limiting all the bowlers to four overs. Can we actually maybe give one bowler one extra over, you know, to try to even up a dominant batter versus a dominant bowler? You know, those sorts of things. I'd just like to see how we can rebalance the scales a bit,” Taufel said to Cricbuzz.

Furthermore, Simon Taufel stated that he was not a fan of the impact player rule, which is there in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is noteworthy that a number of players, such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, have stated that they dislike the rule. Nevertheless, the impact player is here to stay and is probably going to continue in the next IPL season.

“Not all changes are good. As I said, sometimes things aren't broken. And we go changing things just for the sake of a marketing gimmick, which, you know, we've got to be careful in that space. Because if the fans out there, sitting on their chairs and watching at home on TV, don't understand, it makes it more difficult to follow. For me, playing conditions need to add value to the game,” said Taufel.

“You know, and we need to create an environment where players and captains can express themselves. You know, I think some of the changes we've made around the switch hit are great. Some of the changes to the boundary law and playing conditions are great. We're seeing more athleticism; we're seeing higher scoring rates—all those sorts of things. But whether it's laws of cricket or playing conditions, I think it's really important to focus on the balance between bat and ball,” he added.

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