Moments that changed cricket forever: The advent of T20 cricket and leagues

The rule tweaker

Whoever was sketching the T20 picture on the outset must have been one of a kind cricketing bully. While 20-overs a side was an eye-opener for the batting line-ups, the stringent field restrictions and smaller grounds were definitely built to baffle the best of bowling units in the world.

Switching from a cozy dressing room to a snazzy dugout had added its own share of anxiety too.

Yet, with the amped anxiety levels being the USP of the format, one had to adapt to these unforeseen circumstances. The ODI slog-over onslaughts soon phased out into longer twenty-over routines while the real impact of economical bowling was found in the game’s shortest format.

Cricket on the other hand, was introduced to its most creative stage of the game’s evolution. For the first time in its history, the game was dictating its set of rules and not the other way around.

Of Strategic leaps and defying the impossible

The Dil-scoop

With looming adversities, comes an opportunity to invent and evolve – and T20 was the one screaming for immediate changes. While it was initially asserted as a game of mindless hitting and entertainment for an idle mind, the game was soon invaded by a lot of thinking cricketers, now widely celebrated as the path-breakers in the format.

The margin of error was shrinking by the day and the smallest of mistakes were dissected with a rather scathing analysis. The first to react to these seismic changes were the batsmen that redefined the art of shot-making to a whole new extent.

With paddle-sweeps being a norm, situations conducive for playing lofted drives and traditional heaves used at utmost regularity – T20 introduced a new age of batting hostility that had its own set of conditional calculations attached to it. The class of a Laxman wrist-flick or a Ganguly cover-drive was soon overshadowed by a Dil-scoop or a trademark KP switch-hit – T20 had invited the unorthodox to assume centre stage.

Meanwhile, the bowlers were not to be left much behind in finding the antidotes to counter the cavalier batting ethics for a long time.

The yorkers on the base of leg-stump were soon accompanied by an array of full-length deliveries pitched right on the tramline on the off-side, while looping bouncers were integral in curbing the big hits, and bowling the same line and length, the traditional way, was just unacceptable.

Mystery spinners soon became a priceless commodity and variations were accepted for its virtues of delivering the goods in a 4-over spell. Bowling soon transformed into an art from a mere routine on a flat deck and contests between the bat and ball had a hint of unpredictability to it.

Moreover, further light was shed on improving fitness and fielding standards that were now too important to be left on mere chance. With the winning margins often separated by fewest of runs, every saved boundary or extra single was a major incentive.

Result? One may never find an Inzamam or a Ramesh Powar making into a top-notch T20 outfit. It was truly shaping out to be a survival of the fittest!

Captaincy too had to deal with a major reality check in the early days of the format. Soon, skippers were seen experimenting with close-in fielders in attempt to guard against the newly conjured fancy hits.

‘Going with the gut feeling’ – a necessity in T20 cricket

Even opening the bowling with a spinner to curb early fireworks was an infectious method explored across the game. Thinking on the feet became a necessity in every prospective captain’s CV and trusting one’s sheer instincts was regarded as the best way out of a looming catastrophe.

Suddenly, the game was dependant on the pure impulsive nature of the brain and reactive cricket was more of a mainstream phenomenon. Cricketing strategies have certainly seen their identity scripted all over again, thanks to the influx of T20 frenzy in the past decade.