Bharat Arun provides alternative to boundary count rule to decide the result of ODI matches

The ICC World Cup 2019 final can be termed as the greatest final in the history of the elite tournament, given that the winner could only be decided on basis of boundary count after both the match and the Super Over ended in a tie. England became the first-time champions only because they had a higher boundary count than New Zealand.

This rule of deciding the match came into heavy criticism from all parts of cricketing fraternity given that they were of the opinion that the trophy should have been shared between England and New Zealand, rather than such a decision. Even India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun feels the same and even suggested an alternative for the same.

Bharat Arun criticizes the boundary count rule

In the final, England scored 241/10 in reply to New Zealand’s 241-8. The nail-biting final went into a Super Over, which also ended in a tie given that both teams ended up with 15 runs each, but England lifted the trophy by virtue of having scored more boundaries. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was not happy seeing a team becoming World Champion via such method.

“I agree with Sachin Tendulkar that one more Super Over could have been played. Why look only at boundaries when there are so many methods to make runs? Looking at the number of wickets lost is the best way to decide,” Arun was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Bharat Arun also suggested that ending in the top two spots after the league stages should give the teams some advantage and said that the World Cup should follow the model of Indian Premier League, which sees the top four teams playing in knockout matches. The top two teams get two chances of making it into the final.

“There should be some incentive for the teams that finish first and second in this long, demanding league phase. We should have play-offs like in the IPL,” he said. India finished at the top of the table with 15 points, but a bad day against New Zealand ended their hopes of reaching in the finals, as their famed batting order failed on the day. The same happened with Australia who were blown away by the hosts England.