Bowlers Need To Catch Up With Modern T20 Batting: Rahul Dravid

World Cup-winning former India head coach Rahul Dravid has said that the grammar of T20 batting has undergone a complete transformation , with bowlers now needing to “ catch up ” with rapidly evolving batting standards.

Speaking in an interview from Dublin, where he was unveiled as the owner of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) franchise, Dravid said modern batters have significantly changed the approach in the Powerplay overs , making the format increasingly dominated by aggressive strokeplay.

He said young players like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre, Priyansh Arya , along with world No.1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma , reflect this new mindset where boundaries are being hit to all parts of the ground with remarkable consistency.

“In a sense, the quality of batting over the last two to three years has improved so much that bowlers will have to do some catching up,” Dravid said.

He acknowledged that batters are currently coping better than bowlers with the demands of modern T20 cricket. However, he added that this imbalance could shift again in the next couple of years as bowlers adapt.

Dravid also drew a contrast with Test cricket, where he said bowlers are currently having more influence, with many matches producing results in just two or three days.

On how to restore balance in T20 cricket, Dravid suggested that pitch conditions may need to offer more assistance , such as extra pace, bounce, or turn, rather than relying on rule changes.When asked about proposals like the two-bouncers-per-over rule , Dravid avoided taking a firm position, saying he was not getting into specifics but supported any measure that could help bowlers stay competitive.

At the same time, he ruled out structural changes like increasing boundary sizes, saying there is “no space” for such adjustments.He stressed that cricket should maintain a fair balance between bat and ball , warning against the game becoming too skewed in favour of either side.

“There are times when batting dominates, and times when bowling does. The balance should not tilt too much either way,” he said.