Thursday, October 04, 2007

Cricket 2020 way or the 5050 way

It is surprising and strange that this is my first post on cricket.

This post is in response to the adulation that our 2020 cricket team is receiving. And what was rather shocking was the speculation about the future of the big three with the present success of present young team.

It’s hilarious and unintelligent that present young team can win us matches and tournaments in one day international with the same panache of winning 2020 format. The basic difference between 50-50 and 20-20 format is you need batsmen who can stand at the crease for longer time rather than hit out and get out types. This difference is bought out in practice the way Bangladesh played against the big wigs, they have batsmen who are apt for the 20-20 format, and they are not well equipped to stay for a longer time.

This is no way ridicule to the victory that our team has received. It’s a great win that Indian team has achieved. But what was a shock was the way they were treated as they were the best in the history of Indian cricket. There is every chance that these young lads (average age of 24) will take this hero worship into their head, and no one knows whether they will be able to accommodate losses and the criticism which is mostly likely to accompany.

It is in the best interest of Indian cricket that the big three stay in the team and groom these talented young lads for the vagaries that cricket will have in bag for the future.