ipl a real good perspective

really well written, Mr. Haigh

t20 – playing the devils advocate

Watching the current T20 tournament has left me with some mixed feelings. while it has captured the fancy of everyone in general, the college night canteen, normally the haunt for lonely night owls has in the last few days resembled one of the packed buses typically shown on “Sights of India” documentaries in the western world. A list of these ‘typical’ standard indian sights could be an interesting exercise, but more on that later.

i am probably one of the unfortunate ones, the excitement has rubbed off enough, cant help let not-so-flattering thoughts passing through my head. And it is not as if i havent tried -  i am unabashed totally egalitarian cricket watcher who can watch a street match for hours – but T20 still hasnt touched home.

the biggest letdown has been that while some of the cricket has been good viewing and spectacular,there have been more than the normal share of ugly hoicks and dismal batting from otherwise very good batsmen and very unattractive defensive bowling, like talented spinners bowling low full tosses and quicks bowling slow off breaks. While there have been some very good wicket taking spells, it cant be denied that most of the wickets were given away by rash strokes by batters and not due to skilful bowling. only fielding has been top draw compared to other versions.. 

The T20 makes cricket pretty uni-dimensional and therefore poorer. Cricket is one game played in the mind as much as in the field and not sure if this version has been able to do justice to that very unique aspect. It will never see something like a Michael Artherton keeping Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock at bay for a 10 hrs just by sheer will to draw a game, or a Steve waugh playing a characteristic stodgy yet match winning 200 against a bumper barrage from a ravaging Ambrose and Co…

also remains to be seen how it will equip the players of tomorrow to play the other versions of the game. lets not forget that the players of today have been brought up playing cricket the normal way, so in a sense it is their adaptability that is being put to the test. someone fed on t20 diet might be a different animal, probably a bits n pieces player who can strike the ball a long distance, bowl 4 niggardly overs n dis-appear.  if this happens, cricket will surely be the loser.

while it is important to entertain, dropping the level of the game to the lowest common denominator is not without its dangers. while it has caught the fancy world-over right now, what is to say that this attraction will stand the test of time? the fundamental question here i guess is cricket solely to titillate the senses? where do we go when our senses will have enough of slam-bang? 5-5,10-10? or directly a shoot/bowl out?

i am sure there are enough people thinking the same way, only hope that some of them are amongst those managing the game today. it is upto them to evolve a balance between the various versions.While cricket is not without its failings, it has in it something for everyone. while tweaking it to suit one group of interests, caution must be used to preserve its essential character so it still has a special place in our lives.