What can be done to restore the balance between bat and ball in cricket ?

#2 Leg-side wide rule

What are your thoughts on the leg side wide rule

In limited overs cricket, if a ball delivered even marginally down the leg-side, it is called as a wide-ball, unlike in Test cricket where the rules are far more balanced.

Just as we have a guiding line on the off-side, there is a need for something similar for the leg side too. Possibly at a half distance as compared to the one on the off-side.

With current rule for the leg-side wide, there is absolutely no margin of error for bowlers and it is extremely harsh on them. However, if we introduce a more lenient ruling on the leg side; where the bowlers can bowl without being called a wide, it will give them a sense of relief and allow them to take more risks.

As for the obvious concerns of bowling negative line, the margins of tolerable deliveries down the leg side would anyways be restricted and not like Test cricket or on off-sides, where there are sizeable margins on offer.

As a result, it will not give bowlers the liberty to bowl negative lines to squeeze the run scoring of the batsman. In fact, this move would require a batsman to agriculture a potential new shot and bring more innovation and competition to the game.

Last but not least, it will prevent the bowlers from facing the brunt of bowling an extra delivery just because a certain ball just marginally slide down the leg side.