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20Somethings

The high-adrenaline Twenty20 is catching on elsewhere. Does India need it?

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20Somethings
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Jokesters call it hit-and-giggle cricket. But it is no longer possible to dismiss what may be cricket's biggest evolution in three-and-a-half decades, even though it is yet to be introduced in the game's biggest market—the Indian sub-continent. Twenty20, which, as the name suggests, is 20 overs a side, has just broken crucial new ground.

On January 12, a staggering 20,071 people packed the WACA ground in Perth to see Western Australia beat Victoria in the first competitive Twenty20 match played in Australia. The gates were shut half an hour before the first ball. This was WACA's first full house since 1981, when the then ruling elite of cricket, the West Indies, faced Australia in a one-dayer.

The next day, January 13, a crowd of 21,254 thronged the Adelaide Oval to see Australia-A pound Pakistan by 56 runs in the first international Twenty20 match.

For two seasons, Twenty20 has been a success in England's domestic cricket, hitherto being crowded out by soccer and rugby. Now, cricket's first new fad since limited-over matches began in 1969 may have come to Australia at a perfect time.

Even as the longest version of the game continues to enjoy a committed following in Australia, its administrative set-up, undoubtedly the most far-sighted in the world, is taking a serious view of a report by consultancy firm McKinsey & Co that says the game is not growing as expected. TV ratings have fallen, attendance is low and women and children are struggling to stay interested in the game.

Twenty20 is the panacea Cricket Australia (CA) appears to have come up with. "Like any marketing organisation, we are conscious of the need to promote what the public wants. The Twenty20 issue has been on our radar screen but getting closer to the centre of our screen for two years.... There was a sense of real excitement about the public's response," CA public affairs spokesman Peter Young said.

With several former and current players as well as administrators behind it, Australia may have an inter-state Twenty20 competition as early as next season, including a standalone carnival over a couple of weeks in each state. Besides, it is certain that Australia and England will play a full-blown international Twenty20 on June 13, as part of the Ashes tour.

In India, though, it seems to be generating limited enthusiasm. "It is too early to say if it is an opportunity or a threat. It is good for countries where cricket's popularity is on the wane.... It does not seem to me that something dramatic has been found," says Jagmohan Dalmiya, the most powerful man in Indian cricket, honorifics apart.

With nearly every one-day international playing to packed stadiums, there may be little motivation to tamper with the format in India, and elsewhere in the subcontinent. There are also fears of the game being diluted further, beyond the "damage" already caused by the 100-over game.

"This is Americanisation of the game. It erodes the game's glamour. One-day cricket has already caused a huge damage. India can't draw a match any more. We don't produce any more Gavaskars, Merchants or Hazares. Yuvraj cannot play Test cricket as he doesn't know how to defend his wicket," says former player and administrator Raj Singh Dungarpur, who went to watch a Twenty20 match in England last season but left it midway.

Yet, it may not be possible for long to deny Twenty20 some room in our crowded calendar. Interest in Tests has been dwindling at an alarming rate. Even the much-hyped Test series against Australia last year didn't see a single full house. Domestic cricket, with its three-day and one-day matches, is in a shambles. Even one-day internationals are being looked upon as stale and predictable. Interest invariably dips when the field spreads out in the 'predictable' middle overs.

In this scenario, Twenty20 may be difficult to resist. It takes out the middle overs and serves a sizzling dish of just the initial and slog overs with nothing stale in between. These matches get over in three hours and are played in the evening under lights—perfect for men, women and children not wanting to interrupt their office or school. Thus, it can draw—and has been drawing for two years in England—families that would otherwise head for the cinema, theatre, an eatery or the beach. The game itself has more action, thanks to the free hits, batsmen power walking or jogging to the crease, etc (see illustration).

Sandeep Patil, explosive batsman of the 1980s and now coach, believes that Twenty20 is the next logical step in cricket's evolution. "It will catch on. First it was five days, then one day and now three hours. It is more likely to be accepted."

Ray Hume, production head with espn-Star Sports, believes that Twenty20 will end up spreading the game further. "The world's viewing habits are changing. All sports must be in touch with what the audience wants," he says. Hume has seen it all before. He was in Australia when Kerry Packer was promoting the one-day game and TV coverage from both the bowling ends and saw both facing intense negative reaction.

Without doubt, one-day cricket has improved the game by raising the bars in fielding, running between the wickets and rate of scoring, and over time made Test matches more result-oriented. Twenty20 is bound to add its own flavour.

Dungarpur doesn't deny Twenty20's appeal. But he would like to keep it separate. "A logical line must be drawn between limited overs and the conventional game. It will be harmful if under-20 or under-16 boys play Twenty20," he says.

As a case in point, in the January 13 match, Australia-A opener Brad Haddin showcased the strangest stroke ever played. Given a free hit after a Shoaib Akhtar no-ball, he abandoned his stance and went behind the stumps to swing wildly, giving himself more time for the heave.

But it was not all insanity. Shoaib quickly prised out two wickets. And the best batsman for Pakistan was Inzamam, not Shahid Afridi. "One cannot play across the line all the time. You have to put bat to ball and the timing remains important whether you play across or straight," says Patil.

Dalmiya would prefer a more compelling reason to introduce Twenty20 in India, like there was for one-day cricket. "One-day cricket started because people wanted results. Test matches are like classical music and one-dayers are like modern light music. Thus, both have come to stay," he says.

Remix makers would be listening in with a keen ear.

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