The Cricketing Hope

In childhood I used to follow cricket very religiously. But in the last five years I have followed cricket in a shallow way. The reason for this anomaly behavior towards cricket is due to the monotonous nature of the countries taking part in the cricketing fixtures. The same, old, 8 countries (not counting Zimbabwe, Bangladesh Kenya) playing the game with the same set of players, for decades, with minor changes in the team. Major sporting Nations of the world even don’t know what cricket is all about. These factors repelled me to follow other sports like: football, f1 and tennis. Football and tennis are largely played by most of the sporting countries of the world. One reason that I can attribute for cricket- not becoming a success in the sporting countries of the world is due to the immense time it takes for the outcome. The passion which we (Indians) associate with cricket is not even 10% matched by any other cricket playing countries. Cricket is a one sided affair, for which, India has taken the responsibility for not letting the game to extinct.

But something, very exciting is happening, currently, in the cricketing world with the invention of 20-20. And with IPL coming into place, cricket has got a new brandish of life to live and stretch out to different parts of globe. This new format that IPL adopted last year, for its inaugural tournament, has brought a much needed change in the way the game is played; mainly the time factor that has got changed, has given a huge space for cricket to be successful. My strangeness for cricket got replaced with great anticipation and enthusiasm for IPL, last year, and this year also it is more or less the same. The quick results, the free flow of money in the tournament, the enticing cheer leaders, the association of film stars and business men, the involvement of multiple players from different countries in a team, the media coverage, the sponsorships, the Champions League (Football) type format, and the logos and jerseys: all these together have gone to make IPL a great success, not only in India but overseas also. It seems IPL’s success is here to stay, and IPL will permeate its success by changing other countries’ outlook towards cricket in a major way.

But for IPL to add over its current success, it needs to do lot of things. We can observe that most of the thrills in the match are brought by international players; domestic players barely make any mark in the final outcome of the match. If international players have a bad day then there is hardly any excitement left in a match. Domestic players need to contribute on a larger basis to make IPL successful on a grand level; and also to reduce IPL’s dependence on abroad players. For this to happen, there needs to be enhanced flow of money in the domestic games with healthier media coverage, and elevated crowd involvement. I am in full support of 20-20 cricket, and this is the cricketing format that will take cricket to other non playing countries. I think, having full fledged domestic league of 20-20 will draw in more crowds, and will lift up the cricketing experience in almost every match. And if India, by having better domestic cricketing infrastructure, is able to develop IPL into a domestic league, consisting of 16-20 teams, then this will compel other cricketing countries to go after and develop their own domestic leagues. This will generate a domestic league of 20-20 cricket in each cricketing playing countries. And then, 1 more tournament can be organized in the calendar year, consisting of top 20-20 teams of different countries: like the champions league format in football. This will result in startling fondness in people towards cricket, and this newfound love for the game will percolate in other cricket playing countries.

If apt planning of the 20-20 cricket is done by ICC then it has the potential to develop cricket in a major sport, sprawling to different parts of the globe in the years to come। I believe 20-20 cricket has got everything that a sport needs to become a successful international game, and IPL has given a great head way in this objective।If everything goes well then we are not far away from witnessing a 20-20 World Cup among 32 cricket playing nations having, comparatively, the same competence.