a paradise for the batsmen; a disaster for bowlers........
yes this is what T20s are turning to be in real scenario. only dragging people to watch the matches is now the basic theme of cricket played in this form.
i watched the almost all the matches played in the maiden World-Cup [including all those played by India]. all the games were
spellbinding, thrilling and throttling till the last delivery....but still the legacy of the "
gentleman's game" was missing !! the semifinal in which Indians thrashed the
LOI defending champs
Aussies; it was rather a game of luck for India.
basically the game is a disaster to the temperament development cricket was meant for as a sport. the tests
quintessentially stood
aloof all showing what it took actually to stand in the horrendous sun and holding the nerve rather than playing strokes. even the
ODIs; or more commonly now known as the
LOIs; a later and yet brief version of the 5-
dayers is a treat to the flair of batsmen & bowlers. the bowlers, like
Muralitharan &
McGrath display the artistes in them on the wicket with the leather.....
what this T20
transformation has rather contributed to our penchant towards the sport is a getting dumbstruck at the pace of the
proceedings and developing a much more ardent interest in batting; or actually in the present scenario "hammering". the sport has given batsmen a bigger edge; & hence the game is faster and bigger in terms of
numbers and records. no record is here secure for batsmen and no team can rely on a particular score as
defendable [as Bangladesh defeated Australia, to instigate the misery the world champs were yet to follow].
looking at the economic aspects of the game it yields that basically this is more of a "business" that a "sport". unarguably the betting market is flourished & on song with the development of the latest version of
cricky !! there was an exchange of about billions/day in the market. even the shopkeepers in the cities threw chocolates at balls they had put a bet on. adding more; the channel telecasting the whole "chase"; ESPN; earned about few hundred billions in just 14 days, much more than Ten Sports, telecaster of the
LOI World Cup [about a month long], could for the longer version.
ultimately the sport refinement towards the shorter version would result in the changes [according to me]:
1) the temperament development of the upcoming cricketers would result into an impulsive, sporadic and rather smashing. they would develop a tendency to react to pressure and building in the same way; "hitting all over the park". the bowlers would not stick to the "line-length" philosophy and would strengthen on the negative line aspect of things.
2) the craze in the public for the
LOIs and
much orthodox "tests" would replenish quite steadily or
parabolically with time steadying on a "say-no to tests" & even
LOIs.
3) the economic prospects divert in the direction of a much-more intensified competition between the
sponsors as they would tend to increase the rights'-income.
4) the "
satta bazaar" would witness a "Golden Era" in the coming years with the advancement of the game in the frantic direction.
[contd..]
