It was in 2009 and T20 cricket strived to get going. However, the format still had some skepticism surrounding it though India had won the World T20 in 2007 and IPL’s inaugural edition was a huge hit.
But what really struck one’s mind in that second season of IPL was the sight of so many fans at every ground. Sell outs happened every time there was an Indian domestic match be it at Newlands, St George’s Park, Wanderers or Kingsmead. Some were non-Indian locals.
During that IPL, Australian great Matthew Hayden made a prediction while talking to TOI.
“This is just the beginning; watch this format growing around us. In 10 years’ time, I see T20 cricket as part of the Olympics with crowds lapping it up in United States. Cricket cannot become global if it does not have its market place here in US and only T20 can do that,” said Hayden.
Hayden’s words have taken a little over a decade to come true. Today, T20 is on the verge of a global explosion. By withdrawing its “no Olympics” stand, Indian cricket board (BCCI) has allowed world body ICC introduce the sport into Los Angeles roster for 2028.
Before then however, this format will undergo its first examination when things kick off with16 matches of phase one of T20 World Cup including marquee India-Pakistan clash held in America.
“The demand for tickets for the India-Pakistan game (being played in Nassau County ground 35 kms east of Manhattan ) is phenomenal. This blockbuster game should make cricket proud,” said Venu Pisike ,the chairman US Cricket according to TOI.
It was an interesting point by Pisike who said that for American audience–beyond subcontinental diaspora–to love cricket, it must be “high intensity”.
Therefore ‘high intensity’ has seen this format go through an incredible transformation over the years. The first T20 final on a Wanderers batting beauty was won with 157 runs on the board and if this pitch were to be replicated in 2024, one can expect that 157 will be chased down in 15 overs.
Pitches have become more and more batting friendly, power-hitting has become the most important ingredient of cricket and two fresh rows have become the most telling columns in statistics — strike rate for batters and economy-rate for bowlers. Averages do not matter anymore – these days a six-ball 20 carries more weight than a 40-ball 50 in T20.
This is how much things have changed that Sunil Gavaskar, a high-priest of orthodox cricket is comfortable taking on Virat Kohli for scoring at a strike-rate of 150 thereby readily inviting troll armies who question whether he has any better batting credentials than the original “Little Master”.
In the IPL of this year, run feast probably reached its peak with eight scores in excess of 250 being registered and back-benchers Punjab Kings chasing down 261 against champions Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. Prior to this IPL, the barrier of 250 had been broken twice, leaving us with an obvious question; would we see this batting monstrosity continue during the World Cup?
The curator for Nassau County ground has promised a batting beauty and with India playing Ireland, Pakistan and USA here there might be six-hitting mayhem throughout the first two weeks of T20 World Cup.
But there is an interesting catch to this narrative. The business end of this World Cup – Super 8s, semis and final – shifts to West Indies where the pitches over the last few years have not exactly helped slambang action either. Also gone are those days when Sabina Park was green-tops and a West Indian pace quartet breathing fire.
Jamaica does not feature anywhere amongst six West Indian venues. This is Sunil Narine era (though he no longer plays for West Indies) where pitches are expected to be slow favoring spinners as well. Moreover all of India’s matches are day-games which means that there will be no dew making Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav much more dangerous.
However bowlers do not mind this damming up of a river after getting hammered for two months so far. Mitchell Starc from Australia who won KKR IPL title said: “This time round impact player rule won’t be there meaning that you won’t get scoring rates at around 270-80 or batting allrounder walking in at No. 8 or 9 once again.” Pitches could have their say on Windies alone to tilt things towards bowlers holding sway over batters as well as spinners gaining ascendancy.
However, modern T20 has made the batters more brave such that conditions don’t always stop them from going about their gig. Starc definitely can’t vouch for his countrymates Travis Head or Glenn Maxwell to slow down just because the ball is stopping a bit.
And for us, it’s about finding the best spot on the couch every evening for one more month.
