Is T20 Corrupting Cricket?

The emergence of the Twenty20 format and the immense popularity of domestic Twenty20 leagues, especially the Indian Premier League, has led many to believe that the international game of cricket is facing extinction. In fact, in its latest edition, the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanac – considered to be the bible of cricket, slammed the South African, Australian and English cricket boards for their role in supporting Twenty20 leagues and held the Indian officials (read BCCI) and the IPL chiefly responsible for deterioration of Test cricket. Lawrence Booth, editor of Wisden, is only one of many voices expressing their concern over the influence of Twenty20 and the future of Test cricket.

Cricket purists believe T20 to be an adultery of cricket, a rowdy version of the gentlemen’s game. Blatantly unorthodox and slightly arrogant, the format encourages players, especially batsmen, to undermine the textbooks and technicalities of the game in favor of brutish pinch hitting which is effective for scoring runs expediently. This has given rise to innovative shots like the switch hit, scoop, reverse scoop and various other modifications, adding to the woes of the bowling fraternity. The predicament of the bowlers doesn’t just end there; as strike rate is gaining prominence over batting average, batsmen are getting into the habit of wildly swinging their bats at the ball, due to which you see a lot of runs coming off edges, and though it isn’t pretty, players don’t seem to care anymore how their runs come. The introduction of powerplays and shortening of the boundaries to enable more runs and add to ‘excitement’ has only exacerbated the situation for the bowlers.

Another problem people have with leagues like the IPL is that they have heavily commercialized the game. This has caused many players to abandon their national sides for playing in the cash rich leagues. Chris Gayle, who deserted the struggling West Indies Cricket Board to play in the IPL, serves as a prime example. Cricket pundits are also concerned about celebrities and businessmen, who have relatively little knowledge of the game, taking ownership of the franchises and who might put their own commercial interests before the interests of the game.

On the other hand, the excitement that T20 generates is unrivaled in the game of cricket, ask any one of the millions of supporters who have witnesses the thrilling encounters of this years IPL. The tournament has already witnessed more close finishes than any of the preceding four seasons. The IPL has already witnessed 18 matches that have gone down to the wire, three matches have been won by five runs or less and the match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings is a story in it self as Dwayne Smith scored 14 runs off the last three balls to give MI the victory.

Also surprisingly, the bowlers have come back with vengeance this season and have dominated the batsmen at times. Lasith Malinga has perfected the art of T20 bowling with his variations in pace and lethal yorkers, and many bowlers are following in his footsteps. The fact that bowling is evolving with the game is good sign of things to follow.

Tough I believe that the T20 concept is great, and the IPL has the potential to breathe new life into cricket, the way the BCCI has handled the IPL is appalling. Instead of engendering genuine interest, passion and loyalty among the fans, they have so far acted only on their own selfish interests. The common perception of the IPL is that of a money-making-machine for the BCCI rather than a genuine sporting endeavor. If you look across to the European football leagues, it is clear that the way they have managed it is very different from the IPL. In the EPL and other European leagues, even teams facing relegation are well supported by the fans and stadiums are filled to capacity. The way these fans react to their teams and the kind of passion they show cannot be garnered by simply adding some glitz and glamour to the proceedings. This is a very superficial approach by the BCCI and shows they do not really understand fan mentality.

The auctions seem like another one of their schemes designed to milk the team owners. An important factor in retaining fan loyalty is stability in the squad; it is futile to auction off players every season, drastically changing the composition of the squads, like shuffling a deck of cards. Therefore teams like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers have strived to maintain the basic structure of their squads, even if it meant buying back the same players again. The scuffle between the owners and the BCCI for player retention prior to the auction, showed how unhappy they were with the way the tournament has been managed.

The number of teams should be steadily increased to 15 or 20 to better represent all parts of the country, and generate more of a local following in order to get more spectators to the stadium. Something the BCCI surely plans to implement but knowing them, they are going to ride it for every rupee they can get (read auctions).

The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India has an unfortunate habit of stressing on the control part and bullying other organizations into subservience. This reckless behavior can only hurt them in the long run. The immense popularity of cricket in India has indeed been like a double edged sword as on one hand it has helped the sport prosper and on the other it placed power in the hands of BCCI, who have shown lack of responsibility.

The future of cricket lies in India and it is time someone took responsibility for it. It is this message that the Wisden editor, Lawrence Booth wanted to convey when he proclaimed “India your sport needs you”.