The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has already seen some of the biggest totals being scored in UAE. The 13th edition, which is being played across three venues, has been a nightmare for bowlers at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium – where batsmen have ruled the roost and have capitalised on shorter boundaries to score a heap of runs. A batsman’s paradise and a bowler’s graveyeard, as it has been raining sixes at Sharjah, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has come up with a new rule in order to give some relief to the bowlers.
“Over the ropes is 4. Outside the stadium is 6. Those are my new playing conditions for Sharjah. You guys okay with it? #Sharjah #MiniCricket,” he tweeted.
At Sharjah, the first match of the season was played between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings where Steve Smith’s men put 216 runs on board as Smith (67 off 49) and Sanju Samson (74 off 32) hit 13 sixes between themselves. In reply, despite a valiant effort by Faf du Plessis (72 off 37), CSK managed to score 200 runs. In total, while the Royals hit 17 sixes, the Yellow Army wasn’t far behind with 16 sixes.
The second match at the venue proved to be another run-fest as while KXIP posted a total of 223 runs riding on a ton by Mayank Agarwal (106 off 50), Rajasthan Royals chased down the total with three balls remaining. Smith (50 off 27) and Samson (85 off 42) once again made best use of the shorter boundaries and smashed nine sixes while Rahul Tewatia produced one of the most memorable innings in IPL history during his 31-ball 53 where he tonked seven 6s, 5 of which were scored in Sheldon Cottrell’s one over.
