Sir Don Bradman, Malcolm Marshall, Micheal Holding, Sir Viv Richards, Allan Border, David Boon, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara & Ian Botham. These are names that need no introductions if you are a Cricket fan. Players who redefined success and the way people looked at the game. Most of these players played in the best form of the game called “Test Cricket”.
Let’s look at a bit of history of cricket. It went through its birth-throes and emerged in a competitive international form in 1877 as "Test Cricket" with England playing Australia and losing. In 2000, Bangladesh became the tenth and newest Test entrant. Its standard five-day format calls for approximately 90-overs to be bowled per day till the match is drawn/tied, won or lost.
“One-Day Internationals” had an interesting origin. Although the limited-over’s format began in 1963 in the English domestic circuit, the first ODI was played (again) between England and Australia when the first four days of a Test match in 1971 were washed out, and the sun came out on the fifth. ODIs became popular so fast that by 1975, the cricketing nations had played their first World Cup.
“Twenty20” was originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. On 17th February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland. After all this there was no looking back. Cricketing fans went bizarre. They wanted more and more cricket each day of their lives. It is said that a true temperament of a player is tested in “Test Cricket”. Whether he is a bowler or a batsman, his real test is when he plays the longest version of the game. With the growing popularity of “Twenty20” the question to ask is will “Test Cricket” be able to survive the competition?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) says it is pleased to own three versions of the game. But it also thinks that “Twenty20” could gobble up the other two in the near future. After the introduction of Indian Premier League (IPL) it’s as if players have been more interested in playing for money than the game. It is also said that cricketing boards of respective countries are skeptical of scheduling matches during the time of IPL as they are not sure if the players will play for their home team. The amount of money that a player earns in an IPL season is far more when it is compared to what he earns back home.
Whether this form of game is going to be a blessing or a curse we will have to wait and watch. Will Twenty20 change the world cricketing order in the near future? Will test and one-day cricket bow down to it? Will we get cricketing legends that we used to get earlier? Or will Cricket redefine itself? It’s unclear how long will we have to wait for a definitive answer.
Published in a website isport.in on Saturday 8th may 2010
About the author:
Kunal Choksi is an automobile enthusiast.
He likes to read, travel and loves automobiles & gadgets.
Email – kunal-choksi@hotmail.com
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