Twenty20 – Survival of the Fittest

Mobile phones have replaced landlines; fast food centers have substituted restaurants reflecting a huge transformation in terms of urgency. The globe is moving towards an era where time is everything which resulted in Twenty20, cricket’s latest avatar.

Twenty20 cricket match is like watching an Indian movie where the three hours is packed with action drama and comedy mixed in equal proportions. Similarly, the ‘mini-pyjama’ version is no different. It supplies action in the form of powerful hitting, drama on the field with some sizzling stops, dropped catches and some verbal exchanges which was an ingredient this English summer and the range of innovative shots like scoops along with butterfingers on the field will showcase you the funny side.

This version gratifies those who have no time and patience to sit through the entire day’s play to savor the excitement they look for. It will be raining sixes and fours amid those glamorous girls - the cheerleaders, dancing to the tunes of hip-hop music around the boundary line.

The new born version is all set to take the center stage in South Africa as International Cricket Council (ICC) is looking forward to establish the game in the countries like U.S, Canada and Japan and restore the fan following in England - the home of cricket.

Neophytes

Though all the teams are relatively new to this format with a few games under their belt, there will be no shortage of excitement. England are more experienced in the format as they have played six Twenty20 internationals while Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have played five each, Pakistan have played in four games, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh in three matches.

Surprisingly cricket’s financial powerhouse, India has played only one game against South Africa in Durban last year along with Zimbabwe. The other teams in the tournament are Kenya and Scotland who qualified after topping the World Cricket League earlier this year.

What to expect?

Entertainment is a guarantee though what is unclear are the teams’ tactics. At the same time one thing is clear is that the Indians will be without their most experienced and celebrated trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Zaheer has also been rested and leading the team will be the poster boy of Indian cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Indian team management has looked at this tournament as a platform for those out of the team due to poor form but proven match winners in Sehwag, Hanbajan and Irfan Pathan to stage a comeback. They have also provided some promising youngsters to make their claim for a place in one-day and the test team.

On the other hand, Australia will be at full strength bolstered by the return of Brett Lee replacing retired pro McGrath from their World Cup squad. Ricky Ponting’s men have sent out a strong signal to the rest of the teams that they are all set to add another Championship trophy to their kitty.

Interestingly, England have packed their squad with specialists in this format but at the same time there are players like Jeremy Snape and Darren Maddy who are unsuccessful internationals in their mid-thirties.

The Rules

There are a few new and interesting rules scripted for this format. The most interesting and eye-catching one will be the ‘free-hit.’ The batsmen will get a free hit everytime the bowler oversteps, the batmen cannot be dismissed except that of run-out. The field cannot be changed and it will remain the same as that of the previous ball.

Another interesting aspect will be the bowl out concept. Cricket’s answer to penalty shootout in Football or Hockey, in case of a tie, where the captain has to nominate five players who will have a roll of their arms at the stumps.

The Favourites

Australians will be the favourites to start with though the experience that England, New Zealand and South Africa posses with Twenty20 featuring in their county circuit, these teams will have a chance to win their first major tournament as they are the only teams among the top eight test playing nations not to win the World Cup.

The recently concluded World Cup in Caribbean failed miserably to provide any kind of excitement for the fans as it was stretched for over six weeks involving lots of one side matches. However, it will all be different this time. A two week tournament with only 20 overs per side there is very little time to react or recover.

Twenty20 will provide instant delight to the viewers as the cricketers will tune themselves for the hit-and-giggle formula. It can also be said as, the game of cricket for people who don’t like cricket.

As the cricket’s shortest version is all set to kick start in a couple of days time the Twenty20 mantra should be ‘survival of the fittest.’