Indian Premier League - Twenty 20 Tournament

I used to be one of the critics saying that Twenty 20 was all gimmick and no substance. But ever since the Twenty 20 World Cup, I've thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle that Twenty 20 is. With the current Indian Premier League, the spectacle has been turned up from a 10 to an 11. The tournament is day after day of frenetic cricket.

The league is a multi billion dollar franchise where rich businessmen, Bollywood movie stars and celebrities auctioned for players to be in their team. There are eight teams and they play each other before a final. In the scheme of International cricket, I don't think it means too much to players. The players treat the games seriously enough, but I don't know how much they care should they not win the trophy at the end. A lot has been said of how much the players are getting paid and that it's all a bit of a grab for cash. I don't have anything against players trying to make a living. But if this league starts to conflict with other cricketing schedules, then you have to worry about the state of cricket in the end.

This league is a good enough idea and India, with its huge cricket loving population, can definitely sustain this format. But if players starting retiring or choosing this league over other forms of the game, you would have to wonder whether cricket will destroy itself in the quick grab for cash. Will audiences start to lose interest in Twenty 20 when it becomes common fare.

I for one, have started to wane off it just slightly. The first match in the tournament started on such a pulsating high, that every match since hasn't really matched it. The first match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Kolkata Knight Riders had such a raucous crowd that it just drew me in. Brendon Mcallum came to the party and gave what the crowded wanted, ferocious hitting. He made over 150 runs and hit 13 sixes. The energy was just so high. But such is the case with Twenty 20, the matches can be so lopsided. The Royal Challengers got nowhere near the target when they chased and just collapsed. Yet the match was still a massive success due to one sides batting.

For the moment, I'll just keeping enjoying the fast paced nature of the league and we'll see soon whether crowds continue to enjoy this form of the game. I suspect all three forms of the game, Test, One Dayers and Twenty 20 need to coexist to make cricket a bigger and better sport. If any one of those forms is lost, players will start losing their skills and cricket may as well be baseball if Twenty 20 is the only form left. The skills will be so tailored to swing and miss batting and bowling defensively rather than trying to play different strokes and work the ball around and bowling to take wickets.