Neither fuel price hikes nor six-hitting fatigue can stop IPL fans

By K.R. Nayar

Strange, truly strange, are the debates that the Indian Premier League (IPL) throws up. One suggestion wondered whether the remaining IPL matches should be played without spectators—to conserve fuel. Another claimed that, thanks to the rush of 200-plus scores, spectators are now suffering from something called ‘sixer’ fatigue.

Packed stadiums for IPL in every match

Both can be laughed off, but there are many who believe that these are serious matters. With fuel prices going up, some believe that it is foolish to keep spending on fuel, especially to watch cricket matches. Traffic swells during every match, resulting in a huge consumption of fuel. The sixer fatigue is because in many of these matches an average of close to 30 sixes have been hit, and some spectators are bored to see bowlers look helpless.

In a country where IPL matches have turned out to be the biggest entertainment, stopping spectators to conserve fuel seems impossible. Thankfully, a suggestion that only those who arrive riding bicycles or walking would be permitted hasn’t come up yet. Some problems like traffic, fuel price increase and sixer fatigue are better discussion points than being solved.

At Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday celebrations in Mumbai recently, a remark from chief guest Harbhajan Singh comes to my mind. When asked about restoring the balance between bat and ball in a match, he quipped: “If a bowler is banned after two beamers, I want batters too to be banned after two sixes.” The room erupted in laughter then, but with the increasing number of sixes these days, there is a possibility of a discussion around restricting them before the next IPL. One may not want to witness a day when spectators will have to sit with protective helmets or shields to avoid being hit by the sixes.

Stopping spectators to save fuel is difficult; stopping batters from clearing the ropes is also nearly impossible. Those who enjoy watching sixes may ask how spectators can suffer from the sixer fatigue when, in fact, it must be the batters who should be feeling the fatigue. 

Yet, beneath the humour lies a quiet concern. If this trend continues, will aspiring cricketers still dream of becoming bowlers? Who will want to be repeatedly seen on television watching his delivery disappear into the crowd? A bowler watching spectators jumping in joy over a six is likely to wonder whether he is being mocked for opting to be a bowler, or even a wrong career choice.

The number of bowlers who have given away a half-century in their four overs is shooting up. Recovering from the mental fatigue after bowling such overs will take days. Perhaps bowlers will soon need counselling from cinema’s greatest villains—those who willingly sign up to be thrashed by the hero, film after film, yet return undeterred. If this one-sided narrative continues, will captains one day have to coax—or even drag—bowlers out of their hotel rooms?

These days, at the end of every match, bowlers are not counting the number of wickets they took but rather the number of sixes they were hit and the dot balls they managed. Team analysts and coaches also point out the areas from which the sixes were hit off a bowler. In this IPL, the only safe area from where a six would not have been hit would be the bowler’s pocket.

So fuelling a discussion on fuel or the sixer fatigue is of no use. Spectators will want to watch the matches from the stadium, and they will also want to witness the shower of sixes. This explains why spectators are glued to their seats or sofas or chairs when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi bats.  In this age of relentless six-hitting, the only real fatigue is the fear of missing the next one.