T20 - A Disease

Millions of dollars, instant fame, after match parties and much more is the T20 that we have come to know. 20 overs is what it takes to excite and encourage spectators to rush to the grounds and go back with a feeling of getting their hard earned money worth the show.

Amongst all this aren't we forgetting something? There is no CRICKET left in the cricket matches now.

Gone are the days when batsment felt a sense of satisfaction when they hit a cover-drive all along the carpet or a bolwer working out a batsman and dismissing him. Neither the quickies enjoy bowling their quota of 4 overs nor the tweakers indulge in foxing the batsmen with flight, drift/dip and guile.

Welcome to the age of BANG-BANG cricket.

Unlike the English avatar T20, the India version IPL has caught not only the spectator's eye but the players are willing to leave their national commitments aside for an IPL berth. And when I say this I am referring to the current international players and not the retired old blokes. Infact IPL which was a counter move to tarnish ICL (Indian Cricket League), was established on the lines of ICL of hiring the services of players who have hung their boots or who were not currently serving their international sides, to play along the Indian domestic players in order to enhance their skills. Four seasons on we did not see many old blokes gracing the field with their presence and their brand of game. If any were hired find themselves in the coaching staff of the franchisees.

The T20 format has slowly and steadily started to affect the next crop of players who were at some point of time in future destined to replace currrent era's Tendulkars, Dravids, Pontings, etc. Forget about driving down the ground with a straight bat like Tendulkar or dead batting a scorcher bowled at 150 kmph like Dravid or hooking/pulling a quick bowler like Ponting, the T20 generation knows only one way to play...HIT OVER THE TOP.

I remember when Kieron Pollard played in the inaugural Champions League and then there was talk of him featuring in the WI line up, Michael Holding said in an interview that Pollard IS NOT A BATSMEN and does not deserve a plce in the WI national team.

He hit the nail and it applies to all the youngsters who have started their careers with T20.

India's dismal show in England is a proof of this. Look at Raina, Yuvraj and Dhoni, they may have murdered the bowlers in the T20 format, but they have failed to lay bat on bowl in England. It seems that they are playing with a bat which is thinner than a hockey stick where as Dravid's look like as broad as an entrance door.

Indians preferred to play the IPL immediately after the WC instead of preparing for the crucial series' abroad. Many of them realized they were suffering from serious injuries only after their respective IPL teams were all but out of the competition. People like Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer could have skipped the 2 months long IPL and got their injuries sorted out and played in WI to get into the TEST match groove. But I guess IPL money was far more inspiring than the national duties.

But who can blame them, it has always been the money hogging BCCI who would have pressurised them to play in the cash rich league. The absence of WC winning Indian stars would have hit the TRPs and the cash flow for the BCCI.

It would be interesting to see when and how the cricketing world counters this plague called T20.