The title of this one suffices for the introduction. You probably guessed it right this post is an after effect of the India-Pak Twenty20 encounter. Having just come out of the hostel TV Room, jam packed with fans going berserk, I had to write this one in order to let the overflowing energy flow out peacefully.
Shorter duration, bigger shots, crazy outcomes (Zim bt Aus, Ban bt WI...the latter not being that crazy...) and top that up with Penalty Shootouts..."Chak De India! style". Yes, I could have said "Football Style" or "Hockey Style" but I feel Chak De! had its own effect in adrenalizing the thrill and excitement to a new level for the viewers. The final moments were definitely reminiscent of the World Cup Final Match in the film (the girls were missing though...)
Well the future of Twenty20 depended heavily on this match. Had this been a dull one sided game, India's (read Indian viewers') first encounter with the shortest form of the game would not have been exactly encouraging from the audiences' point of view. The first impression, even if not the last impression, is a lasting impression so it would have definitely had its toll on an average Indian fan's interest in this novel form of cricket.
The tight finish, better call it the tied finish followed by the hit and miss penalty shootouts made it a treat to watch. Guessing from the reactions particularly this match has generated it seems Twenty20 will go places (unless India have really tough luck in the matches ahead and the short-lived memory of the common Indian viewer undergoes a negative "System Restore" blaming Twenty20 for the team's unholy deeds....but why even think of this...let's stay in the "Safe Mode" I mean the Chak De! Mode for the time being...)
So are the 50 over matches ready to be trimmed to the shorter version (now this phrase "shorter version of the game" has a new definition)? I believe the two forms or rather the three forms of cricket can co-exist in harmony, as after much hue and cry Test Cricket had to settle in with a fresher and a more dynamic form in the ODIs. With the ODIs ageing fast, people being interested only in the first 10 and the last 10 overs of the match it was only natural for Twenty20 to come up and be successful (For those who did not realize the mathematical gravity of the this statement...first 10+last 10 of either innings=Twenty20...I just told you the philosophy which gave birth to Twenty20!). And with this Eureka thought about the origin of the new firebrand form of Cricket, I come to the end of this post....will come back soon.
5 comments:
hah!!!
Actually, i really was looking forward to a post on the India-Pakistan twenty20 match, so in that sense, a very expected one!!!!
Waise, I must say, u write, as if an article to be published in some newspaper!!!
Nice!!
The indo pak match was not India's first T20 international :P ....it played one against south africa in that disastrous tour....and actually won that !! :) ...and T20 was formulated in england as people wanted to watch a match which would provide them good entertainment after a tough day at the office...so it started at 6 30 and ended at 9 30....so the reason to put 20 overs was the time constraint...and they thought about 18 overs a side....but then settled on 20..!!!
Nevertheless a good post!!
P.S.: sorry for the long and fact oriented post..!!
@anudeep-thanks for the comments and being a regular visitor
@aditya-thanks for your factful intervention...but let's not forget that the hype and expectation the mere prospect of having first ever India-Pak match(add the World Cup factor to it) generates is more than enough to erase any previous records in history of T20 games played by India?(for most of the fans this was and would remain in their memories as the first)...
you may be right about the 6:30 to 9:30 thing but maybe the inventors had may "Eureka" thought at the back of their minds... ;)
keep visiting my blog's gonna need your facts often...
Well said luv....
i fully agree with anudeep in this respect
:)
this 20-20 is a nice rattling change for the cricket geeks
'nd this India -Pakistan match was unique in its type ofcourse,happened only second time in the history of world cricket
truly awesome
thanks...and keep coming back :)
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