Ever since the Impact Player rule came into existence in the Indian Premier League (IPL) the bowlers have had nightmares with the batters reaping all the rewards of the rule. Unlike the previous seasons, IPL 2026 has been a complete run-fest with as many as 12 successful run chases of 200-plus totals - the most in a single season, surpassing nine in IPL 2025.
In fact, Punjab Kings chased down Delhi Capitals' 265/4 - the highest successful run-chase in the history of IPL. Amid such a beating right, left and centre, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar came up with a suggestion for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to restore the balance between the bat and ball.
With most of the wickets being batting-friendly, the legendary Gavaskar proposed an idea which promises a fifth over for the most successful bowler after his four-over spell. “The restriction of only four overs to a bowler could be looked at again," Gavaskar said in his column for Mid-Day.
“If a batter can bat the entire 20 overs, why can’t a bowler who gets, say, three wickets in his four overs be allowed to bowl another over as a reward for getting those wickets? This way teams will also try getting wickets instead of trying only to save runs being scored,” added Gavaskar.
"After all, the best dot ball is the wicket-taking dot ball, isn’t it? Yes, you could conceivably have three bowlers getting three wickets and an extra over each,” said the 76-year-old. Going by the statistics, as many as 46 200-plus totals were scored till date in IPL 2026 - the most in a single season.
According to Gavaskar, the bowlers and the fielding captain should also be given a chance to try something out and not just plan defensively. “That would even up the playing field a fair bit in a format where just about everything is stacked against the bowlers.
"Look at the small boundaries, the strict interpretation of the wide for a bouncer going marginally over the batter’s head and such like. So, giving the bowlers and the fielding captain an incentive to take wickets and not just be defensive from the first ball, would be something worth trying out,” he said.
Where to try new rules?
According to Gavaskar, any new rule can be implemented on a trail basis in the many city-based leagues that are coming up nowadays. Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Bengal, Odisha - all have their own T20 leagues, styled in the format of IPL.
“As with every new playing condition, it can be trialled in the many city leagues that are coming up. Then, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then, if found that it does level a format which is more batting friendly then it could be used in the next year’s IPL or maybe in the next cycle of IPL starting from 2028,” the batting legend added.
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