This is only the 2nd time in my life that I am commenting on Cricket. The last time was in a district level essay competition. At times I am amazed to notice my lack of interest in the game, even when it happens to be the only game in India which is capable of driving people mad.
A week ago (it was the the 20-20 world cup started) I heard about this new phenomenon called 20-20 cricket.
What's worse, there was a frown on every face, when I said..."Yeh 20-20 kya hai?"
As if the irony of the above statement was not enough to establish my ignorance of the game, people seemed to enjoy what a moron I was, asking the stupid question. So, Test cricket was the 5 course meal. ODIs were the fast food. What's this....the candy, or the pick up lunch?
I must say that the whole idea of Twenty20 cricket evades me. Its like creating a form of the game, which as far removed from the game as possible. See it simply, without the embellishments- a volley is thrown at you, you swing your willow, people cheer.
That is actually all that there is to cricket, but only if you're seeing cricket for the first time in your life. We Indians know better, I am sure. Many of us grew up hearing this stuff from people 2 generations above us. We have witnessed matches and seen history being made. The indian peoples with so much of the sport imbibed in them need not be told how the game's to be played.
More about the Twenty20 phenomenon. They started it in England, a place where football has done to cricket what cricket has done to hockey in India. The cricketing administration found itself heading towards bankruptcy, as it became apparent that the teams they were spending loads of money on, were no longer the people's pets. The only way to reverse this alienation was to go the football way.
That sure makes sense, but does India need to follow the same philosophy?
To be continued
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