T-20 Cricket - Indian team is the World Champion !

Date : 24th September 2007
Time: 8:30 PM approximately according to IST
Location : Johannesburg, South Africa

Event : Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup Final Match between arch rivals India and Pakistan

Situation : Having scored a paltry 157/5 in the allotted 20 overs, the Indian team came back really good to reduce Pakistan to a mind numbing 145/9 till the 19th over. Climax of the Climaxes. Pakistan needed a bone chilling 13 runs of the last over and Misbah Ul Haq was on fire. Dhoni, the Indian skipper, hands the ball to Joginder Singh. It all begins here. To say that this was like any other "down the wire" match would be a gross insult to the sport of Cricket. Because nothing gets bigger and better than this.

Sample this... Joginder Sharma bowls the first ball down the off stump for a horrendous wide. 12 runs off 6 balls. Follows up with a dot ball as Misbah misses a huge swing. 12 runs off 5 balls. Next up, Misbah comes down the track and hammers a huge one straight above long off. While the Indian camp went into a deathly silence, the Pakistan supporters erupt into a frenzy. Dhoni has a word with the bowler. 6 runs off 4 balls. Joginder bowls one way down the off stump, Misbah reaches it and tries the paddle scoop shot over fine leg. Too bad, it was a slower one !! Due to the lack of pace, in spite of the great shot selection, the ball lands in the cusped hands of Shreesanth and then all hell broke loose. India had won the World Cup !!! Boy oh boy (and gal oh gal) this was simply the most awesome moment in the Indian Cricket for me since it was a dream come true for one and all. Its simply huge and cant be expressed in words. And it came with such a pot boiler of a match, which was just the most god max experience for the Cricket Crazy nation of India.

About twenty 20

For the ones still marveling in ignorance, that Twenty 20 cricket for you and this was the inaugural world cup which had literally took the cricketing world with storm. The fans praised it and the purists hated it. Before that let me post an imaginary (?) tale that circulates the cricketing lore :

"One fine day, at the end of 19th century, some English Gentlemen got bored of their daily routine. So they asked God, "All mighty, please give us something to while away our time in a sport befitting our stature, which will provide for one and all". And then there was Test Cricket. The 5 day version. People liked it. The legends flourished.

And then after 100 years, life moved on. People said we cant see cricket for 5 days. and then they prayed again, "All mighty, please give us something to while away our time in a sport befitting both the players and the spectators watching it." And then there were One Day Internationals. The whites got coloured as the game got quicker and better. The purists hated it, saying that ODI's don't qualify as much the traditionalist version. But they had to bend down. Soon they were proved wrong and how !

Some 30 years later, life got fast and people got even faster zipping and zapping their routine through even tighter schedules. How come Cricket lag behind. Its really true that "Change is the only constant thing". And this time after 30 years of inception of the 50 over game, we got a smaller version : the Twenty 20 Cricket. Faster, Quicker and more dynamic than ever. The game gets over in less than 4 hours and provides incomparable adrenaline and sheer entertainment to absolutely everyone involved. Even though the world has come to accept that this is the way cricket will be played in future, but who will console the purists?? Some of them, past legends and my friends (who are not past legends,beware !) who say that the game is too harsh on the bowlers. Well... if they could only see, the sheer pressure of Twenty-20 has made possible ridiculously new tricks and trade in the bowling departments and has substantially improved it like anything. The matches are indeed won by the bowlers, if someone follows the game closely. Because hitting is business everyone can manage, but good fielding and ability to take wickets is no ordinary job.

Twenty 20, as the name suggests is a blink and you miss type of game, where each side bowls 20 overs and the aim of the game is to blast out from the word go. With a power play of 6 overs, which is a treat, the ending slogging overs provide a fitting culmination for the gala party. With modifications like free hit and bowl outs, T-20 simply rocks ! When life is all about pace, cricket can't be slow. Purists may miss the copybook technique but the neo-converts like me are unanimous - speed thrills ! Batsmen don't block studiously ball after ball and the bowlers have become more and more intelligent. The fielders are on their toes since even a moment of relaxation might cost you the game. It has come a long way in restoring the game's viewer ship by leaps and bounds and its virtually growing at an exponential speed. Its dramatic, swift and unpredictable and gives the minnows more of a chance to retaliate against stronger teams.

I will be posting more on the Twenty 20 world cup later on, but till then it will be great if you could post your opinions and comments about this article. Click here to do so. Adios.