The pot of cricket is boiling, today. The tradition of cricket itself – the test match – is being questioned. It’s “new” avatar, the one day game, is being trashed. Everyone is high on the newest kid on the block – T20’s. It seems obvious though that of the three formats, the one day game is the one whose validity is in serious doubt. Test match cricket is a bit like classical music, is a very differentiated product and will always find takers, albeit who will eventually see it like the arts and indulge it like a charity. The T20 game is akin to progressive house/ trance. Fast, racy and demands a new set of skills. The one day game seems now to be in the generation of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Madonna’s Material Girl – it just seems to have outlived its novelty. Everyone has been voicing their thoughts on how to alter it to make it more interesting and engaging for consumers – split it into two innings or reduce it to 40 overs a side, etc etc…
And then suddenly came the India – Australia series. Up until the sixth game, it has been a cracker of a series. High scores set, highish totals being chased down, awesome centuries and all this culminated in the best game since the iconic South Africa – Australia match in March 2006, when South Africa chased down Australia’s 432. Eventually, India lost by 3 runs chasing 350 and Tendulkar played one of the greatest innings ever. Television ratings have been unprecedented.
The bottom line is this – the one day game will still be engaging if two things happen. One, they should only be played on pitches which are batting paradises, which promise a 300+ total. No one wants to see a score of 170 like happened in the sixth game. Matches should not be played on “sporting” pitches. They have to favour the batsman. To maintain some parity between bat and ball, let the bowler be given one more shorter ball per over. The other is to control the amount of cricket played. Sounds like a beaten horse but viewers should not get “spoilt” with T20 cricket because expectations are getting altered and we need to keep that in check. Already, a score of 100 in a T20 game is considered boring.
Keep the one day game fresh and see what comes out of the pot when it’s done.
Written by: Kartikeya Rao
Image: Andrew Biraj / Reuters
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