The crowd that thronged Marine Drive and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with just a day's notice, to welcome the winning Indian T20 team, showed how deep T20 cricket has sunk in the mind of an Indian cricket lover. The format is interesting, quick and easy to follow. It makes one want to compare it to linguistics, which is the study of languages.
Before, grammatical skills to write and speak correctly were needed to communicate. This is no longer the be-all and end-all of all communication in today's world. Technology may have contributed to this, however a quick, easy, simple and comfortable way to express yourself has become the way of communicating for the majority. A similar change has occurred in cricket.
The T20 game does not require the technique and skill that Test cricket requires and therefore cricket is now transforming into a completely new avatar to express itself and that is "T20".The One Day Internationals were born to increase the excitement in the leisurely pace of the conventional form of the game. This can now be seen as the initial steps of the transformation. Although One Day cricket is still very much present in the cricket world, both its survival and that of Test cricket are at stake.
The West Indies team currently playing a Test series in England at Lords is a good example of the way cricketers now perceive their sport. Several of their astute international players have decided to play franchise-based white-ball cricket instead of playing the red-ball game for their country. This has resulted in a weak West Indian team on display in the Mecca of the cricket world.
The word loyalty to the country for a cricketer is becoming less and less important. Establishing their future financially has become the most important factor for them. Indian cricketers are the last of the Mohicans who have not yet gone to seek new fortune. This is because the BCCI is keeping them financially comfortable and the IPL is making them rich and famous stars. Cricketers from other nations are now true professionals looking for the best options for themselves. T20 cricket has become the business and the franchise-based exploiters of the game and the cricketers are the winners and their countries are the losers.
This is where you can see the decline that is rapidly affecting Test cricket. Today's young cricketers are less inclined to learn and master the art of playing in the orthodox style of the sport. They realize that to become a successful cricketer, it is not the technique that is important, but the power of the ball against the fence.
Previously, a batter waited for a loose pitch from the pitcher to take his throw. In today's world of cricket it is completely different as batsmen are innovating to hit every ball that comes their way. This is why Test cricket is not even 5 days long and there is a strong movement to reduce it to 4 days. The shorter the Test cricket format becomes, as well as the players avoiding mastering it, shows that cricket is going for the limited path. Currently, the ICC has two World Cup cricket tournaments and these are the two prestigious trophies that nations can win. That is the One day International and the T20. Test cricket has the word Championship and the two-year cycle to play the final does not attract the millions who follow it.
One wonders if the Indian team had won one of the last two World Test Championships, would they have gotten the same reception and financial rewards that they received by winning the T20 World Cup recently.
The ICC has to reconsider how to make the Test Championship more attractive. One way is to have the top 4/6 ranked test teams play each other in a common venue to finally culminate in a final. The reason is that the attention of all cricket lovers will be on the championship and not the current final match. One-day limited overs cricket may still survive as the skills required to play the T20 version adapt a lot to him. It is Test cricket that needs to survive. The longer version really differentiates the best cricket teams from the weaker ones. This, therefore, makes it difficult for small teams to compete.
The ICC needs to gradually bring them to the fore, rather than throwing them into the abyss to survive. Most of these weaker cricket nations do not have 4/5 day domestic tournaments and it is not fair for them to play a longer version at the highest level. This requires nursing and the creation of a structure to take them to the highest level.
Test cricket needs resurrection and it needs it soon.(Yajurvindra Singh is a former Indian cricketer. Views expressed are personal.)
Before, grammatical skills to write and speak correctly were needed to communicate. This is no longer the be-all and end-all of all communication in today's world. Technology may have contributed to this, however a quick, easy, simple and comfortable way to express yourself has become the way of communicating for the majority. A similar change has occurred in cricket.
The T20 game does not require the technique and skill that Test cricket requires and therefore cricket is now transforming into a completely new avatar to express itself and that is "T20".The One Day Internationals were born to increase the excitement in the leisurely pace of the conventional form of the game. This can now be seen as the initial steps of the transformation. Although One Day cricket is still very much present in the cricket world, both its survival and that of Test cricket are at stake.
The West Indies team currently playing a Test series in England at Lords is a good example of the way cricketers now perceive their sport. Several of their astute international players have decided to play franchise-based white-ball cricket instead of playing the red-ball game for their country. This has resulted in a weak West Indian team on display in the Mecca of the cricket world.
The word loyalty to the country for a cricketer is becoming less and less important. Establishing their future financially has become the most important factor for them. Indian cricketers are the last of the Mohicans who have not yet gone to seek new fortune. This is because the BCCI is keeping them financially comfortable and the IPL is making them rich and famous stars. Cricketers from other nations are now true professionals looking for the best options for themselves. T20 cricket has become the business and the franchise-based exploiters of the game and the cricketers are the winners and their countries are the losers.
This is where you can see the decline that is rapidly affecting Test cricket. Today's young cricketers are less inclined to learn and master the art of playing in the orthodox style of the sport. They realize that to become a successful cricketer, it is not the technique that is important, but the power of the ball against the fence.
Previously, a batter waited for a loose pitch from the pitcher to take his throw. In today's world of cricket it is completely different as batsmen are innovating to hit every ball that comes their way. This is why Test cricket is not even 5 days long and there is a strong movement to reduce it to 4 days. The shorter the Test cricket format becomes, as well as the players avoiding mastering it, shows that cricket is going for the limited path. Currently, the ICC has two World Cup cricket tournaments and these are the two prestigious trophies that nations can win. That is the One day International and the T20. Test cricket has the word Championship and the two-year cycle to play the final does not attract the millions who follow it.
One wonders if the Indian team had won one of the last two World Test Championships, would they have gotten the same reception and financial rewards that they received by winning the T20 World Cup recently.
The ICC has to reconsider how to make the Test Championship more attractive. One way is to have the top 4/6 ranked test teams play each other in a common venue to finally culminate in a final. The reason is that the attention of all cricket lovers will be on the championship and not the current final match. One-day limited overs cricket may still survive as the skills required to play the T20 version adapt a lot to him. It is Test cricket that needs to survive. The longer version really differentiates the best cricket teams from the weaker ones. This, therefore, makes it difficult for small teams to compete.
The ICC needs to gradually bring them to the fore, rather than throwing them into the abyss to survive. Most of these weaker cricket nations do not have 4/5 day domestic tournaments and it is not fair for them to play a longer version at the highest level. This requires nursing and the creation of a structure to take them to the highest level.
Test cricket needs resurrection and it needs it soon.(Yajurvindra Singh is a former Indian cricketer. Views expressed are personal.)
