Well those of you don’t know; let me tell you that I am an Indian. As an Indian I know three things very well...how to make software, how to break software and Cricket. Anyway forget about software in this economic meltdown, let’s talk about Cricket.
There have been stormy discussions and lengthy blogs written by many Cricket pundits on the evolution of T20 and the future of Test Cricket. As my mood went bit sporty this weekend I thought of writing a blog on the same topic.
Why T20 is not good? When someone say “it’s not real Cricket”, what is real Cricket then? Can anyone tell what that non cricketing factor there is in T20? If you are referring to the glamour of IPL, the belly dance (I mean cheerleaders cheering!) and club structuring of Cricket team, you might be true but in the game itself what is the difference, apart from the game being of 20 overs?
There have been lots of blogs where it is said that there is no cricketing skill required in T20. Do you really agree with this? What my friend Rajesh feels is players need more skill in T20. Rajesh says check the last two IPL and T20 world cups; check out the best batsmen and bowlers. The players you find in the top of the list are the world class batsmen and bowlers (Check the list at the end of the article). There are hardly any Indian or foreign county player who is topping the list. Needless to say that the international players are more skilled than the young league players.
Other point to discuss is after two seasons with 4 big T20 tournaments (2 IPLs and 2 T20 World Cups) there is no clear dominant in T20 format of Cricket. Because the lesser over the game of Cricket would be, the more uncertain the result would be. That is the reason why no teams as of now are winning consistently to emerge as clear T20 champions. In order to become T20 champion you have to win T20 matches consistently which is of a taunting task. You need to be mentally and physically 110% fit at all times to win t20 matches consistently. Each and every ball has to be given utmost importance and there is no scope of laziness or mistakes. Couple of balls can turn the whole match around. You got to be on your toes each moment. You maintain the pace of Test Cricket but T20 has its own speed, its upto you whether you get to the speed or not, if not you are the loser. It is not clear when people say T20 is all about hitting and no skill. Can anyone make me understand how hitting sixes is different from cricketing skill? What is batting all about, is it not about hitting sixes? I know there is something called patience and occupying the crease for longer time but in T20 there is no time for all these things, get into top gear from ball one, if not there is no point wasting time in middle if you are not middling the ball. And mind it; middling each and every ball, hitting sixes each over is all about pure skill, nothing else. Even Mr Gavaskar has told in his interview with Cricinfo that if given a chance he wants to change the match where he made only 36 runs occupying the crease for 60 overs. Same can be told for bowlers. They have got 4 overs to do their job. You better be sending the batsman to pavilion right from the first over else its all over. Same can be told for fielding. This is a department which has to be very very tight when it comes to a T20 format. A 10 run miss or a catch drop can very easily cost you the match. Similarly lets talk about captaincy. If the captain makes a mistake in a decision, there is no time to come back and recover from the mistake. The decisions have to be very accurate to sustain a T20 match. So it is evident that to win a T20 it requires more skill, patience and presence of mind compared to any other format of Cricket.
Cricket is a popular sport worldwide which comes probably third in the rank in terms of number of viewers (thanks to India) but how many countries are playing the sport now? Some years back there were as many 9 major teams (countries) playing Cricket. Now as Zimbabwe is suffering from its own problems the major team count has been come down to 8. Additionally the popularity of Cricket is going down in Cricket major countries like England and West Indies, as per a research. So in order to make Cricket worldwide famous we need to make more countries play Cricket. And mind it if you play Test Cricket there is no one going to follow Cricket for another 100 years. If you want Cricket to be played by countries like America, Japan and China you have to come out of Test Cricket. T20 is the format which can impress them and they would start playing it. I mean its not that you have to stop playing Test Cricket but T20 is the format which you can sell in other countries to make then play Cricket. This is only good for Cricket nothing else.
T20 is a format that requires more skill there is no doubt about it. Also this is the format of Cricket which is the future of the game. So as Cricket lovers lets start supporting T20, to make this sport a great success worldwide.
Statistics ( * marked players are new to international cricket)
IPL 2008
Most runs scored - SE Marsh* , Gambhir, Jayasuriya
Most number of sixes - Jayasuriya, SE Marsh*, Yusuf pathan*
Most wickets taken – Sohail Tanvir, Shane Warne, Sreesanth
World Cup 2008
Most runs scored - Mathew Hayden, Gambhir, Misbah-Ul-Haq Most number of sixes - Craig McMillan, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle Most wickets taken – Umar Gul, SR Clark, RP Singh
IPL 2009
Most runs scored - Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, AB deVilliers
Most number of sixes - Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Suresh Raina
Most wickets taken – RP Singh, Anil Kumble, Ashish Nehra
World Cup 2009
Most runs scored - TM Dilshan, J Kallis, Chris Gayle
Most number of sixes - Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Kamran Akmal
Most wickets taken – Umar Gul, A Mendis, Saeed Ajmal
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