Desicritics Category: Sports: Twenty20

Test Cricket - A Twenty20 Twist

sufferingsocrates — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:51:26 EST

India sure managed to scale the expectation and reached the top of the ICC Test cricket ratings. India, like Australia and South Africa has been the only Test playing nation to have consistently performed in away conditions with victories. In that perspective, India deserved to be among the top 3. But, the very best? I wouldn't think so. India still has a weak bowling attack, and there is no certainty or surety of a return to form of Ishant Sharma. Moreover, Harbhajan Singh's performances have been patchy to say the least. What India surely is missing though is an express pace bowler to bowl at 145 clicks consistently for a entire spell of 4 or 5 overs. Until India finds consistency in its bowling attack, the Indian team will continue to rely heavily on its batting.

Even so, the top spot in the ratings look like more transient in nature, because of the lack of test matches India would be playing. BCCI has now asked South African cricket board to play two test matches, by dropping two one day internationals in India next year. While it would seem that this maybe an opportune moment to give a much needed fillip to sagging fortunes of test cricket, BCCI surely wants to give the Indian team a fair opportunity to continue atop the test cricket ratings. While these are certainly welcome thoughts, one cannot but be reminded of the lack of sponsorship interest for the Indian cricket team. If the BCCI can bring in more crowds to see the Indian cricket team perform well and retain its top ranking in test matches, there could be an opportunity to win back elusive sponsors.

All said and done, there is certainly a deep concern for the future of test cricket. BCCI's moves are certainly positive, but as I mentioned, seem more like being opportunistic in nature. What test cricket really needs, is to have the spice and pace of a T20. Test cricket for today's youth and fast paced life is more like an Indian documentary or art film. Dull, drab and boring. While a Bollywood movie is spiced up enough with drama, passion and more than a good dose of titillation. This is precisely what test cricket needs. A spicing up, even if it be over a 5 day period.

What I have been thinking of, is to eke in facets of the 20 over game into Text cricket fold. Following is my thought process and the reasons they can attract good crowd responses.

Compulsory 20 overs of powerplay in a day's play. It would be split into ten overs apiece. The first 10 has to be the very first 10 of the morning's play, and the second 10 has to be the very first 10 of the second session of play after lunch. There would be no option for either team to choose when to exercise them.

Now for the specifics in these 10 over slots. Firstly, the batting team has to score at 4 per over for each of the overs in the 10 overs slots. Failing which, each such over will result in a 2 run deduction from the batting team's score. Unlike one dayers or T20s there will not be any fielding restrictions. This will retain the charm of Test Cricket. Similarly, every wicket the bowling team takes will automatically add 5 runs to the bowling team's score. So, if the batting team is chasing 50 runs, a wicket which falls in the 10 over slot, would mean additional 5 runs to score.

Now for the benefits of such a system. Scoring at 4 per over maybe a norm in test cricket these days. But even now, scoring 4 per over at the start of a session is a challenge. The incentive for the bowling team for each wicket it takes in those 10 overs will encourage setting up attacking fields as well. This will mean, either more runs, or more wickets. But definitely an even contest, while still keeping the spectators engrossed in the game. After all, either the crowd wants to see boundaries or wickets. The most significant impact would be on the result of such matches. 20 such overs everyday, can change the course of a match, and will prove more result oriented. If nothing, dull boring draws won't be as many, since the instances of preserving wickets would make it a nail biter, especially in the last day scenario.

I am no cricket expert to delve into cricketing rules and find the pros and cons. I am sure instances such as rain days etc. will have to be accounted for. But as a cricket fan, I feel something like this will retain the interest in test cricket. Moreover, my suggestion above for 10 over slots in the first and second session would automatically retain spectators in the stadia for almost an entire day.I did not suggest this for the last session, because more often than not, it would either be exciting (close draw,a chase etc.) or a dull or boring end (watchful towards end of play) . I am quite sure such a shake up will bring in more spectators, and force the batting and bowling teams to be more attacking and retain Test Cricket's charm.

Cricket - How Many LOIs Do we Need?

Lomi — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:58:32 EDT

For those of you who have seen so much of cricket and still don’t know this term LOI, LOI stands for limited over international. It’s been about roughly three years since the first Twenty20 game was played. Since the advent of Twenty20 the main question in every cricket lover's mind is whether we need two separate LOI (20-20 and 50-50) or do we need to gradually finish off 50-50?

The important point here is Twenty20 is still in nascent stages and is yet to fully establish itself but its attraction has been huge. It’s never been common in Indian domestic cricket to attract such huge crowds. Of course, the case in point here is that there are so many foreign stars in display but still people get to see almost 40% foreign players in action. If India plays, say a foreign country, on Indian soil it of course attracts huge crowds where we have 50% foreign representation. But the important thing to keep in mind with IPL is the winner is always an Indian team irrespective of who performs.

Do we see the end of 50-50 or is it going to coexist with Twenty20?

Twenty20:
Pros: Time, Speed of the game, boundaries, close games, evening out the teams, unpredictability
Cons: Better team need not always win, no comeback chances, too fast, one person can change the game, fielding becomes irrelevant, bowlers getting demoralized

50-50:
Pros: History, comeback chances, Better team always wins, Team game, Fielding important, bowlers get more respect.
Cons: Time, speed is too slow between 15-40 overs, predictability of the game easily, very few many nail biters, fewer boundaries.

As you can see from the list, the main pro for Twenty20 has been its speed. It’s not normal for a cricket game whether a Test match or 50-50 to have the spectators so closely gripped to their TV screens. Yes there have been many close 50 over games but if you look at it as percentage of games played, its very low. Moreover the 50 over game gets interesting only in the last 10 overs or in its initial stages which makes it watchable for say 20% of the time then what do you do with the rest to keep the spectators interested? They like to see action and Twenty20 brings loads of it and that keeps everyone interested. Also you get more close games in Twenty20 unlike 50-50.

50-50 has its own advantages of its very long history (including its ancient 60-60 days) but the main advantage of 50-50 over Twenty20 which any cricket lover would agree is its fairness. By fairness, I don’t mean the discipline here but rather the necessity that the team that played better cricket needs to win and that is more or less true here. You could always argue that a test cricket is more correct cricket than 50-50 but that is a different debate in itself. The main argument here is that in 50-50 if you need to win a game you need to do lots of things correct whereas in Twenty20 you need to do say one great innings. You could always play a commanding knock in odi but unless you bowl well you need not win. Also the bowlers get so much more respect that a batsman cannot literally close his eyes and swing its bat and still are called a hero. Well in one line “50-50 is more real cricket than Twenty20.”

We already have another format called Test cricket which will always be the cricket in its purest form and the question is do we need one “middle pure” and one “completely impure cricket”. The thing is 20-20 could never become a fixture in international calendar like 50-50. The reason for it being it’s not possible to always get a fair result. But club Twenty20 games would be the most popular form of the game. Looking at the initial interest, it is possible people might show more interest in these country leagues like IPL, the Champions League than say a international 50-50 games. But its interest will probably rest with club matches and may be occasional international games (World Cups). The test and 50-50 could be the fixtures in any tour calendar. What will die is probably not the 50-50 game in itself but those meaningless 50-50 tournaments we used to have in Sharjah, Malaysia, Singapore etc and also possibly the champions trophy.

Pakistan Win ICC Twenty20 Championship 2009

Aaman Lamba — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:10:23 EDT

The spirit of cricket was alive and well at Lord's on Sunday. The "People's Final" was getting underway, and the finalists had more than realized their countries' dreams by making it so far. Cricket as a unifying force was evidently at work, as could be evidenced by the mixed crowds and also the online cheerleading. #PakCricket had many cross-border followers, although Sri Lanka was the team to beat.

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat. Their innings was just about getting underway when star player Dilshan was caught by Shahzaib Hasan off Mohammed Aamer in the first over. Even more stunningly, Jehan Mubarak was caught off Abdul Razzaq in the second over. Sri Lanka were 8 for 2 at the end of the over, and the crowd was going wild. Jayasuriya and Sangakkara started to get the score going, but Jayasuriya was bowled at 17 by Razzaq in the fourth over, followed by Jayawardene in the 6th. Pakistan looked to have the game well in hand by now. Sri Lanka found its steadying anchor in Kumar Sangakkara, who batted on through the innings, finishing off unbeaten at 64 off 62 balls, and pushing Sri Lanka to 138/6.

Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan opened the batting for Pakistan. They got the innings off to a quick start, taking Pakistan to 48/0 after 7 overs, two sixes from Akmal. He fell in the first ball of the 7th over from Jayasuriya's first delivery. Hasan went in the 9th over, caught by Jayasuriya off Muralitharan. Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik took up the charge, taking Pakistan to 103 in the 15th over, with 36 runs required off 30 balls and eight wickets to spare. The batting seemed to pause for a while, until Afridi took the blinkers off and knocked two massive sixes in the 18th over. Pakistan needed 7 off 12 balls to win the ICC Twenty20 Championship 2009.

They wrapped up the match in the 19th over, the winning run was a leg bye past Shahid Afridi, who had a 76 run partnership with Shoaib Malik. The entire team got on their knees in the middle of the field and did a victory lap. A comfortable performance under pressure and one that was sure to build up their spirit.

ICC Twenty20 2009 Semi-final: Pakistan Defeat South Africa

Aaman Lamba — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:43:58 EDT

The Pakistan cricket team might not have expected to get this far in a world series, and one would like to believe that at least for a few hours, all was well back Home. A good game of cricket was to be had, and the team needed to focus against a formidable opponent to have a chance of making it through to the finals.

The South Africans looked composed. They were coming off a five-match winning streak in this tournament. Their bowlers were in form. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat on a pitch that looked like it would turn later, and runs get harder.

Kamran Akmal started off well, scoring 8 in the first over. He had a few more boundaries and sixes, before being caught off Steyn in the third over, scoring 23 off 12 balls. Shoaib Malik came in, somewhat early, to partner Shahid Afridi, who just about appeared to be getting started. The pair played it slow and safe until the 11th over, when Afridi unlimbered himself and scored 18 off the over. His flamboyant innings came to an end soon after. Shoaib Malik plodded on for a while before turning over the batting to Younis Khan and Abdul Razzaq for the final overs. The Pakistani team scored a respectable, though not spectacular 149/4 from their innings, perhaps wishing they had notched up a few more high-scoring overs.

The South African openers looked to set a good pace early on, so that the 7.5 required run rate did not climb up too soon. They looked to have the task well in hand, and were 26/0 after three overs. The run rate stayed pretty much constant until Graeme Smith was caught and bowled off Mohammad Aamer in the 6th over. In the next over, Shahid Afridi decided to up the ante and took Herschelle Gibbs wicket off the last ball. 104 runs were needed off 78 balls, with 8 wickets in hand.

AB de Villiers was dropped off the second ball of the ninth over, but fell to Afridi's short length the very next ball, and South Africa were now 50/3. Pakistan sensed the game might be turning, and that it might be a close finish. The score was 61/3 after the 10th, and 64 at the end of the 11th. The required run rate was now hovering near 10.

Umar Gul came in to bowl the 14th over. He bowled a few interesting deliveries but didn't bag a wicket. All the same, the required run rate had climbed to over 11, and there were little fireworks on display. South Africa scored a few more runs in the next over, but the chase was a long shot by now. Umar Gul tightened the screws further in the 17th over, giving away just six runs.

Jacques Kallis was caught by Shoaib Malik off Saeed Ajmal close to the boundary in the 18th over. He played a steady, good inning, but it wasn't enough. With two overs to go, South Africa were 121/4, 29 runs more needed. Umar Gul gave away just six runs.

A dot ball, a six, and a wicket - the final over had all the excitement of top quality cricket. In the end, 10 runs were needed off the last ball, and Pakistan, much to their surprise, were through to the finals of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 Championship.

10 Reasons Why India Lost And Who Is Responsible!

Kim — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:00:52 EDT

As I have earlier confessed, I'm not a Cricket fan.

This analysis is my husband's who is one of cricket's ultimate fans. He watches the Ranji Trophy, every ball of Test Cricket, county cricket and even Mirzapur XI against Rae Bareily XI (if such a thing exists). What can I say? Opposites attract!

Since he follows the game so intently, I have no reason to doubt his analysis, but was wondering what other cricket fans would have to say about it. We'd love to hear your opinions.

In his words:

Well the World Cup is over ... for India atleast ...

We will see a lot of reasons/explanations being given for this state of affairs from experts and a lot more from non-experts. Given below is my list of the top 10 reasons, India is no longer a part of the World Cup.

1. Sehwag Episode
BCCI and Media

2. Dhoni's Batting against West Indies (11 in 23 balls :: SR 7)
Dhoni

3. Jadeja being send ahead of Yuvraj against England
Dhoni

4. Jadeja's Batting against England (25 in 35 balls :: SR 71)
Jadeja

5. Raina's strike rate against WI (5 of 12 :: SR 62) & England (2 of 7 :: SR 40)
Raina & Dhoni (by batting at number 3 in practice and group matches)

6. Ishant's Selection against West Indies 3-0-31-0 (Over RP) and England 4-0-36-0 (Over Irfan)
Ishant & Dhoni

7. Not using Overs of Irfan's inspite of 2-0-9-1 against West Indies and RP's 3-0-13-1 against England
Dhoni

8. India's Top Order's inability to play short ball.
Indian Pitches & Dhoni (for rubbishing the need for practice after West Indies defeat)

9. Fatigue due to IPL
Lalit Modi

10. Cosmic Design to humble MS Dhoni and ensure that success does not go to anyone's head.
Universe

Point to note is that MSD and his charismatic leadership has been given a lot of credit for India's success over last 2 years. I too am a big fan of MSD and his clear, uncomplicated, people driven style of leadership.

However if one goes over the list and the people responsible :- MSD's name pops up 6 out of 10 times. Obviously there is something wrong in his logical reasoning before his actions, because a few of these are big tactical blunders. I wonder how a clear thinker and a keen student of the game can make such mistakes.

As they say, more often than not success & failure are products of the "mind" rather than "skill".

From an MSD Fan.

My husband - Brajesh will respond to comments on this post.
I am just the messenger.

ICC Twenty20 2009: India Lose to England, Out of Championship

Aaman Lamba — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:56:14 EDT

The do-or-die moment for India meant a struggle to contain the English batting, followed by a mixed set of batting. While Yuvraj Singh did his part, Jadeja played it slow, and in the end, a close enough finish just wasn't enough. India lost to England in the Super Eights of the ICC Twenty20 Championship, two years after winning the first edition of the tournament, and were packing their bags for the flight home.

India opted to chase after winning the toss, and the first overs went well. Zaheer Khan gave away just three runs, and RP Singh took a wicket in his first over. England pushed the run rate beyond 7.5 upto the 9th over, but began sliding back once the spinners took control. Jadeja's thrilling bowl out of Pietersen just after a lofty six brought out the cheers, while Harbhajan Singh's 3/30, two wickets of which came off the final over, limited England to a mangeable 153/7.

India came out to bat with some aplomb, and Gautam Gambhir's steady batting gave them some hope, despite early losses of Raina and Sharma. Jadeja came up to the crease perhaps a little too early in the batting order, and played a slow game, while Yuvraj Singh built up his pace. before both fell in the 14th over, leaving India needing 67 from 36 balls.

MS Dhoni and Pathan pushed through a good partnership, but the bowlers were up to the challenge, holding them down. India were 115/5 at the end of the 17th over, needing 39 runs more. The 18th over provided 11 runs, quite a relief to the Indians, who knew they would be on the flight home if they lost this game. Nine runs were procured from the 19th over, and India needed 19 from the last six balls.

The field was rearranged, Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan took a gander at the setting, with Pathan at strike. The first ball was a single, the second a double, and then another single. The fourth ball was a smashing six, and just nine runs were needed from the last two balls. Sidebottom came up to bowl the penultimate ball, giving away a single, and then reaffirmed his determination to bowl a clean final over. It crossed the boundary, and India ended at 150-5.

The English team played very good cricket, and the Indians were positively stunned. The final partnership of 63 not out between Dhoni and Pathan just didn't cut it.

ICC Twenty20 2009: Pakistan Trounce New Zealand

Aaman Lamba — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:25:15 EDT

The Pakistan team showed today that they are still a team that cannot be written off by any stretch of the imagination. The match against New Zealand in the Super Eights of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 Championship was a "do or die" moment for the team and they chose to stand fast.

New Zealand won the toss and Daniel Vettori chose to bat. McCullum got off to a rousing start, but was caught in the second over. This didn't slow the Kiwis down too much until both Redmond and Guptill fell in the fifth and sixth overs. Things looked precarious now for the batting side, but they were able to hold it together until the end of the 10th over. The second half of the batting collapsed altogether, mainly at the hands of Umar Gul, who took a stunning tally of 5 wickets for just six runs. The New Zealand team ended their innings at a measly 99 in the 19th over and it was up to Pakistan to show their prowess at the bat could equal the bowling action.

The Pakistani batting started of well. Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan took Pakistan to 30 at the end of the 4th over. Shahzaib Hasan played a good knock of 35 off 28 balls before he was run out in the 9th over, with Pakistan at 61/3. Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi wrapped up the chase in the 14th over, much to the excitement of Pakistani supporters. Umar Gul took the Man of the Match award for his spectacular bowling figures.

ICC Twenty20 2009: West Indies Defeat India in Super Eights

Aaman Lamba — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:27:56 EDT

The unnecessary brouhaha over Virender Sehwag's departure seems to be taking its toll on Indian captain MS Dhoni. His batting in Friday's match in the Super Eights stage of the ICC World Twenty20 2009 championship against West Indies at Lord's was lacklustre and the team were unable to make a stand. West Indies, on the other hand, let Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo take charge and cream the putatively stronger side.

The Indian team, unchanged from their last game, came in to bat. Gautam Gambhir did a reasonably good job before being bowled for 14 in the 5th over, seeing Raina and Sharma fall along the way. The rest of the first half was test-match paced, with Dhoni scoring 5 runs off 15 balls, and Yuvraj Singh playing a steady but not spectacular pace.

The Windies and perhaps the entire stadium heaved a collective sigh when Dhoni was caught by Fletcher off Bravo in the 12th over, having played a slow knock of 11 off 23 balls. This seemed to be the trigger for Yuvraj Singh to take off, and along with Pathan, he provided 16-17 run overs at a stretch, before being caught and bowled by Fidel Edwards, otherwise known as Castro, whose final tally was 3/24, besides Dwayne Bravo's 4/38.

India wrapped up at a reasonably respectable 153/7. Unfortunately, the bowlers were not able to convert the wickets, and Dwayne Bravo's unbeaten 66 off 36 balls made the victory almost a breeze for the West Indians. His finishing six sent cheers through the stadium, and he garnered a well-deserved Man of the Match award.

No Fair Play in IPL

BangaloreGuy — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:36:02 EDT

Hey Mr. Moneybags Lalit Modi, aren’t you on top of the world today? Your IPL2 has been a huge and very deserving success! The Finals has been a humdinger, and fairytale stories of both finalists – and the South Africans love it as much as Indians love it (Well okay, close enough) ! And of course those lovely ideas of the purple and orange caps – well done!

But that, er, is not what this post is about. You remember, of course, that there is a Kingfisher Fairplay award? Yeah, I know - its sponsored, and you'd know. So just like we have a Citi Moment of Success, we should have a Kingfisher moment of fairplay, yeah? How about that? (Just like a DLFer, now we could have KF’fa or whatever is easy on the tongue).

How about starting that with dumping that loathsome man going by the name, Andrew "Roy" Symonds, eh? We don’t need louts to be part of the IPL, do we? A very good final - with a magical performance by a losing Captain, and some really "cool under pressure" bowling, was soured because of that chap. Andrew Symonds. Harbhajan was kept out of the IPL last year, its time Andrew Symonds is too. The Australian board have sent him packing a fair share of times, its time the IPL did that too. Dump him, for good.

Brendom Mccullum had a heated moment with the umpires, but went forward and publicly apologized (before making any comments) – and was *still* docked match fees. Why should Symonds not be done the same – and him being the habitual offender, we should really be dumping him.

It is the Indian Premier League – a fast paced version of the Gentleman’s game, and let’s keep it so. Sure we need the characters of the game – we don’t need automatons, we need Sreesanth doing the break dance, we need Sourav going round and round the ground on picking wickets, we need even Matthew “weed” Hayden playing imposing shots, but lets be clear, we’re not staging the “Aussie Premier League” for us to tolerate misbehavior. This is a great opportunity to set the standard. Let Andrew Symonds know that he earns Rupees (in USD terms), and he better learn his manners. And learn to respect his opponents.

IPL 2009 Final: Deccan Chargers Win Close Game

Aaman Lamba — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:05:09 EDT

The umpires were jived up, with Rudi Koertzen challenging the packed crowds and the players, "Are you ready?" Anil Kumble won the toss and chose to field, somewhat like Vishwanathan Anand picking black, I guess.

The first men in for the Deccan Chargers were the fearsome Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs, and Jumbo himself took the ball. The kids were tucked off the bed just in time for the first ball, although they popped their heads out soon enough as Gilchrist went for the second. The Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) seemed off to a good start, and it promised to be a great evening of cricket, if only the repetitive ads could be quelled.

Gibbs batted through the innings, and one expected much fireworks but the Bangalore bowlers kept the Deccan Chargers in check, with Anil Kumble taking 4 wickets for 16 runs, and Vinay Kumar chipping in with 2 wickets for 30 runs. The Deccan Chargers wrapped up at 143 for 6, perhaps wishing they had put in a bit more effort and brought the score closer to 160.

The RCB came out the field to face some chatter from Andrew Symonds directed at young Manish Pandey, behaviour he appeared to repeat with every batsman. The first couple of overs were uneventful, and Jacques Kallis looked like he was getting off to a good start when he was bowled out by RP Singh at 16. This wasn't Manish Pandey's night either, when he got out for 4. van der Merwe had better luck, making it to 32 off 21 balls. There was a bit of slapstick along the way, with Roelof first tripping over himself in response to a yorker from Symonds, and then barrelling into the stumps as he completed a 3-run streak.

At the end of ten overs, the RCB were pretty much neck to neck with the DC, needing 75 from 60 balls, and with three wickets gone. Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor were at the crease. The filled-to-capacity Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg thirsted for some excitement, and television viewers suffered through the same old advertisements through the time-out. The Zoozoos were out in force, probably deciding to reprise everyone of their by-now interminable spots. A Pepsi Quick Gun Dhoni spot in the strategic time out was new, but beaten to death, as always.

Rahul Dravid didn't contribute much, being bowled out for 9 in the 12th over. Ross Taylor kept up the pace, maintaining a steady run-rate until he was taken for 27, when the RCB were 99/5 in the 15th over. Mark Boucher came up to the crease, but the very next ball took Virat Kohli just off the line, taking then to 99/6. It was now Boucher and Robin Uthappa, both still to get off the mark. Andrew Symonds hoped for a hatrick, but Uthappa knocked it away for a double, easing some of the pressure.

At the end of 15 overs, the Deccan Chargers were 101-3, compared to the RCB 101-6. No one could say who had the edge, and the 16th over started with a boundary, but Boucher was taken by Gibbs in the fifth ball. The RCB seemed all but done in, 107-7 with four overs to go.

Praveen Kumar went in the very next over and the Chargers had the game well in hand. At the end of the 18th over, the RCB needed 27 off 12 balls, with just two wickets in hand. Vinay Kumar contributed a boundary and Uthappa knocked a much-needed sixer in the 19th over, only to see Vinay Kumar caught by Harmeet Singh off the last ball.

Anil Kumble came up to the crease with 15 runs needed, and he gave Robin the strike with a single from the first ball. Robin scanned the field, as Gilchrist nudged fielders into position and RP Singh sported a wry smile. He missed the next ball, keeping strike. The next ball was poorly played again by Uthappa, as Gilchrist donned a helmet in preparation to move closer to the stumps. Two runs off the next ball meant two sixes would be needed from the last two balls for the RCB to win. A leg-bye boundary was signalled and the purple-capped RP Singh knew he needed to just bowl a legal ball to win the game, with 8 needed. He delivered in style, and the Deccan Chargers lifted the IPL trophy for 2009.

The IPL 2009 finals gave us the very best of the action-packed, tense scenes that have become the keynote of this format. The Deccan Chargers turned the game around and in effect, came from the bottom of last year's league to win this tournament. The Royal Challengers of Bangalore demonstrated admirable consistency after Anil Kumble took the captaincy from Kevin Pietersen.

Twenty20 seems to be spreading across the cricket spectrum, with a T20 World Cup in England in June and the ICC Champions Twenty20 League in India in October. There are reports of Lalit Modi wanting two IPL tournaments each year. The commercial minds behind this innovation seem intent on getting the most out of it, but they might end up killing the golden goose if they're not careful. Burnout in the Twenty20 format will likely be faster than in more traditional cricket, and audiences might get confused with blurred loyalties, seeing players in different teams through the year, based on format and championship.