While the 42-metre boundary was a constant talking point, data suggest that it doesn't reflect the quality of six-hitting that was on display.

MUMBAI: In the first week of the Women’s Premier League, a graphic during the game between Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz took everyone by surprise. The boundary dimensions showed that the fine-leg boundary on one side was 42 metres.

A 42-metre boundary for a T20 franchise league featuring the top international stars was always going to create a buzz. And it should not have been as small for such a tournament. In fact, the tournament playing conditions tell as much. “No boundary shall be longer than 65 yards (59.43m), and no boundary should be shorter than 55 yards (50.29m),” it reads. The key point to be noted here is that the WPL broadcast indicated the distance from the batting crease and not the centre of the pitch as the playing conditions refer to, making it all the more confusing. Boundary dimensions are shown on broadcast (Screengrab Jio Cinema/ Twitter) Most of the international players had just finished playing in a T20 World Cup where the boundary lengths were largely close to the ICC upper limit (The playing conditions for Women’s T20Is state that no boundary shall be longer than 64 meters, and no boundary should be shorter than 54.86 metres). Even the India-Australia T20I series that was played in the same venues as that of the WPL had boundaries closer to 60 metres. As far as the WPL is concerned, the BCCI kept it shorter than the T20I guidelines. The intention was to seemingly ensure high-scoring games so that fans were entertained.  Did it have a massive effect on the number of sixes that were hit? Purely on perception, it appears to have. So much so that many, including the commentators, kept reiterating the advantage of the shorter boundary and how there were more sixes because of it. Among fans, especially those watching such a kind of women’s T20 tournament for the first time, it seemed to have created an impression that it is reducing the quality of cricket. However, according to the numbers, this doesn’t reflect the quality of the six-hitting that has been on display.   Distance of sixes in the WPL Range No. of sixes 79 6 * Includes only 107 of the 159 sixes for which the distance was shown on broadcast In the first edition of the WPL, 159 sixes were hit in the tournament of which 107 had the distance shown by the broadcasters. Among the 107, only 12 landed inside 60 metres. 44 sixes were between 60-69, 45 were between 70-79 and six hits travelled over 80 metres with the longest one (94m) coming from Sophie Devine’s bat. This means 88.8 per cent of the sixes from the 107 are over 60 metres. And that is essentially what most of these players are used to hitting in international cricket. They had done the same here as well. Even if one has to try and understand how it looks among the 52 sixes for which the distance was not shown, only 18 of them were hit square of the wicket (point, square leg and fine leg) where the boundaries were largely shorter than 55 metres (some of them went well over the rope, but there is no data available). From an Indian point of view, of the 54 sixes that were hit by local players, only five, (including those that went behind square and data isn't available), were less than 60 metres. Sixes hit by the Indian batters Batter Team No. of 6s Shafali Verma DC 13 Kiran Navgire UPW 8 D Hemalatha GG 8 Richa Ghosh RCB 7 Harmanpreet Kaur MI 3 Radha Yadav DC 3 Smriti Mandhana RCB 3 Harleen Deol GG 2 Kanika Ahuja RCB 2 Yastika Bhatia MI 2 Shreyanka Patil RCB 1 Shikha Pandey DC 1 Now, T20 is a fast-paced format and often, the perceptions, especially among the larger audience, are often created based on what is seen rather than the data that slip through during a contest. As was the case with the boundary length here, which made for a talking point throughout the tournament. And looking at the numbers above, it seems clear that the 42-metre boundary doesn’t entirely reflect the six-hitting prowess or the quality of the players. As is often the case, there is more to it. Mumbai Indians and India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on the eve of the final was asked if the ropes should be pushed back for next year. Her candid response created raucous laughter at the press conference room in the CCI Brabourne Stadium.  “We're not the ones who've put the ropes. The ones who have, you (the media) should ask them. It's not something that's in our hands, right? It's the officials, you've got to ask them,” she said. Kaur might not have said it directly in as many words, but the players have — the data says so too — with their big hits. Come 2024, boundary length is something the BCCI would definitely be taking a relook at.