PERFECTIONING CRICKET- THE 20-20 WAY

This is the season of 20-20 cricket and nothing seems to overshadow it....especially when the audience concerned is of the country that is hosting the lucrative INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE. The TV ratings have pummeled obscurely and suddenly every other guy on the roadside seems to be a cricket analyst -not that the scenario was much different in this cricket crazy country. Whatever the analysts and the so called protectors of the REAL GAME may say about the IPL , it has made inroads into the minds and hearts of cricket lovers all across the world. Now when the talk of the town has been 20-20 Cricket why not peep a glance into what exactly is 20-20 cricket, how much different is it from REAL CRICKET and what is the correct approach of playing it.

20-20 cricket like all good things began in England. The British seem to be have a magic potion while inventing new games but while executing their invention that potion just seems to flow away to their opponents .The performance of the English in most of the sports invented by them bears ample testimony to this fact.
Initially the game was played in English county cricket. Slowly it began to be played at the international level and then it has gathered momentum since then. The first ICC world cup was held in 2007 with India getting the better of Pakistan in a theatric end to an absolutely magnificent tournament. Fittingly the most lucrative league has been hosted by the world champions in their own backyard.

Before analyzing what exactly should be the perfect or rather correct approach of playing 20-20 cricket we should look back into the pages of history where the modes of playing the game has undergone an appreciable paradigm shift. When the shorter version of the game was introduced people were skeptical of its longevity, but it has soon quashed all doubts which existed. Whenever a new concept evolves, understanding the best possible mannerism of execution requires time. Initially a score of 200 had seemed more than sufficient in one day cricket. But now even a target of 434 is chased…which logically would have seemed impossible to score…let alone chase. If we observe how these changes have evolved, we find that these have taken effect with time. Initially in one day cricket, a score of 100 was considered standard in the first 25 overs, where you needed to protect wickets in order to stabilize the innings. This theory was massacred in the 1996 world cup when jayasuriya and kaluwitharna completely redefined the concept of batting when the restrictions were on. Thus a new concept evolved-Utilising the first 15 overs to the fullest brim- pinch hitting as a term was added to the cricket lexicon. Hitting the ball in the air- which was considered as a major flaw in a player’s repertoire is now considered a necessity- so essentially nothing is right and nothing is wrong. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar said during one of his stints as a commentator that during his days coaches would penalize people for playing shots in the air. Nowadays no coach would penalize you if you can use the long handle effectively. This is because the game has changed, new innovations if successful are always welcomed.
One interesting aspect to note is that 20-20 cricket mathematically is a curtailed version of a 50-50 game. So during the initial phases of its launch , it was always considered a good practice to bat first if you win the toss. The logic behind this comes from the fact that in any curtailed one day match you never know what is a good score. So if you bat 2nd , you know at what rate you need to bat. This theory again was contradicted by our maverick skipper MS Dhoni at last year’s world cup when India almost won all their matches batting first. So again we see that there is nothing as correct or wrong –every strategy is a hit if executed properly. Gautam Gambhir is a prime example of the fact that raw hitting is not the only method of succeeding in this format as he has by far been the most successful 20-20 batsman by dint of sheer panache and class. With time you tend to develop new strategies which when successful gets implemented and then are classified as rules to the novices. But those who can execute their theories with conviction can stand apart like the Jayasuriyas and the Dhonis.