Aaha, what a fortnight it was!! No wonder i felt that i m witnessing a revolution in the cricketing world.A new dimension of watching this wonderful game, in its shortest version,presenting you the twenty20 format.(Oops!! probably im too late with the introduction).Initially, I thought that this form of game is nothing more than a "slogthon" and intentionally designed to morally,physically humiliate the bowlers and to satiate the psychic happiness of the wild hitters,so called "specialists".And i was pretty happy to see my perception supported by the skytouching biggies by gayle and gibbs in the first game and i really pitied the bowlers,even legends like pollock were taken for a toll .But this "G" factor did not rule the tournment,as we see.There was some special bowling skills developed soon before many people even realised it. Well directed fulltosses, slow balls,yorkers,short balls,intentional awry line ...this isn't common,becoz it was all happening fast and all in a single over!! And this yeilded results.well, i must say that this made the game interesting.In no time people realised that running for runs and building partnerships wasnt anymore ruled out for this form of the game.The sooner the teams realised it, the longer they stayed in the tournment.The high-wire tension this game produces incredible entertainment and attracted huge investments as advertisements.Being from a nation where cricket is more than a game, a religion ,what can one expect more than this, must mention the two memorable india-pak matche"s"(luckily two!! :) Thanks to the "bowl-out",a new jargon in cricket) in this regard.Well, I must say that team india did stand out of other teams and did not get away with the inexperienced team,instead came out in flying colors with a cup filled with experience and immense joy to drench the thirst of the nation struggling since last quarter of a centuary to held one such thing.congo team india, u made us proud.
This "revolution" did not end with this victory.Somehow indians are too obsessed with this form of the game.Result: ICL and IPL.well ,well!! surely a leap in cricket.Imagine,after a year or so, brian wud b playing along with dada in kolkata,while boucher keeps wickets in bingaz bowling.This surely sounds manchester united or barca.Exciting!! Aaha, no, it doesnt end here.Soon there will be a survival test for the ODI's and the already endangered "tests", which is considered by many analysts as the "real" cricket.There is already a substansiate amount of debate on this topic but it doesnt seem to last long with the triumph of twenty20.This shouldn't happen,we are not gonna miss the fun and memories of laxman standing out and fighting hard to win a test match from a follow-on or anil sweeping up a whole team single handedly to send the visitors with gruelling defeat or the famous "ashes".Hope a mutual existence of all the forms of game,a unique game which supports different versions with a common base,sounds fantastic and equally unrealistic.Only time can determine where this huge "leap" lands up.Long Live Cricket!!
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cricket is a religion indeed.. but after the success of twenty20 i m afraid that the other forms of this game might loose their relevance.. like today itself, it felt boring to sit for the 50 overs a piece for both the teams!
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well, I'd like to disagree with you on many points:-
1)I think the work of bowlers is appreciated the most in the t20 form.The actual humiliation is in test cricket.
While even a dot ball is considered as a "gold drop" in T20(shaun pollock), even 5 continuous maiden overs in test cricket would hardly get anything more than a passing mention.Its only wickets that get you the praise in test cricket, which is definitely not the case in T20.
My point is proved when you notice that even super hard hitters like hayden could not get the man of the series award but went to shahid afridi for his bowling skills.
The statistics might be different in T20 when compared to ODI's, but the end result is better status for the bowler.
2)I seriously thought the bowl out was a joke..(anyways it again proves my point that the game is in the hands of bowlers..so not going to elaborate more on this point)
There are other points on which I do agree with you:
ICL happens to be the biggest boon for cricket.It surely signals the end of BCCI monopoly.
Look at any cricketing aspirant at present:
He has to play for the state team in ranji and run around trying to please the selectors and may be get some references and also resort to bribing.The whole process is devoid of any transparency.
ICL is the first step in ending this sort of disgusting license raj..formation of a number of clubs and leagues would mean a flood of opportunities for the aspirants.If they do perform well, the public will definitely notice and vouch for his selection into the national team.The final nail in the BCCI coffin would be to withdraw from it the privilege of selecting players and make the whole process a democratic one...
Regarding survival,I am sure the tests are here to stay(shock!). Although its highly biased towards batsmen, it happens to be a game of strategy and technique and patience and guts and whatnot!( guess i do sound like a grandpa :D)It has been in play for more than a century will continue to do so..(long live test cricket)
The real test happens to be for ODI's (and the test is not for the tests..(trying for a pun here,lol). The very purpose of intorducing the ODI's was to make the game more (ehem) exciting..It really didnot test the players as he way tests do , but surely was fast..but not its stuck in a mucilaginous no man's land with no purpose for its existence.
@chaitanya
well, first of all m happy to see a comment bigger than my blog itself!!thanks manda...but the only concern is abt the typing error in your first sentence.may b "disagree" wud have been better without "dis".Or probably i have revive my writing skills to present my "point".(I really dont like to use numbers while writing) but to b clear i wud use this time.
1)I thought i never concluded that bowling in t20 is actually a humiliation, i just started with this misconception.I never talked abt test cricket in this regard, but now that u have mentioned it, i must say that test bowling is not just abt getting wickets,its more of a mind game,and yeah definitely wickets are the final results..did u ever see how a bowler gets morally boosted up after bowling 5 maiden overs continously and it hardly isnt followed by a wicket(unless he is as unlucky as me ) or probably its too common.ok lets get to the point,now thats good that u ve noticed a point which i failed to..man of the series..a bowler..and i was talking abt the same special skills developed during the tournament.This was the point i intended to present.dude,where did "dis" come in here?
2)yes bowl-out is a joke but its an intelligent joke.a mind game again.at the international level,(see i ve never spoke abt me and u bowling here), i suppose hitting the stumps is a blindfold job or may b i m wrong becoz there are many factors like bounce,swing,spin,pitch conditions and above all the "pressure".the one who overcomes it,wins it.but still i agree that this isnt as logical and apt as the penalty shootouts in a different ball game.
well coming to the points where u really feel u agree with me.yeah its really a good move by icl but this is just a start and it has overcome a lot of shortcomings to really shake bcci.The "ipl" counter itself is a biggest blow to icl.its really a good point to b notice abt the skeptical selection procedure.I also agree that odi's face the real test of survival.
but wats this now..."Although its(tests) highly biased towards batsmen, it happens to be a game of strategy and technique and patience and guts and whatnot" ..can u plz justify how it is biased towards batsmen..becoz u r directly challenging the ideology of the test cricket.
Anyways thanks buddy, for this detailed analysis.
arey, i guess you would agree that an equal number of bowlers are simply frustrated(as opposed to morale boosting) if they dont get any wickets and they also end up not taking even a single one...
so,in the end, it doesnt matter whether he saved runs or not...only wickets matter..(it a mental game between batsmen and the bowlers)
coming to the point, the "special skills" you are talking about is nothing but a part of the evolution of the game. with the advent of ODIs,a whole new range of techniques came up, its all about developing strategies to out-think the opposition.
with t20, we have not just better bowling..(look at how the number of no balls dropped, and many other things you mentioned) and even fielding too..while batting has become plain reckless...(but i guess thats way its evolving now..)
aah i keep deviating from the "point".the point is I was just disagreeing on ur statement:-
"...And i was pretty happy to see my perception supported by the skytouching biggies by..."
i do agree with the next lines though, as you can see..
point 2:- you say bowl out is a joke and again say it is an intelligent joke and then again say its not logical!
how can something intelligent not be logical??
newys, i was just saying the ind-pak matches were exciting despite (NOT becoz of) the bowl out.
Ideology of test cricket?? I am sure we can books about why test cricket is not equally balanced between bowlers and batsmen and batsmen always have the advantage and newys i just talked about more status to t20 bowlers than test bowlers, so I guess thats one point in my support..newys this point is extremely subjective and varies with ones perspective..
hey btw read this lovely article..I dont agree with some points but its surely thought provoking:-
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/S_A_Aiyar_Cricket_for_the_masses/articleshow/2415236.cms
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