Some musings on 20/20...

[Ram]

For starters , i wasnt too keen on following this 20/20 world cup. I have seen lots of cricket off late and honestly thought i need to take a break from watching cricket, for sometime atleast. But as the match started and progressed into the first couple of overs , i noticed that Gayle was connecting a few and decided to see the match after all.I couldnt have possibly know then how my sentiments on this form of the game would fluctuate in a matter of couple of hours. As Gayle kept depositing ball after ball after ball into the outbanks of the stadium i thought to myself - " This is brilliant ! This is how the game should be ! Blistering pace , lots of action , Dance girls ! wow !" ... There couldnt possibly be a better advertisement to popularise this game worldwide , espeically in the americas. Gayle continued his power hitting till nearly the end of the innings and i wanted more of it. I really did enjoy his strokeplay. As the Windies finished on a record breaking score , Gayle hit the first ever century in international 20/20 history. Everything seemed great Cut. Saffies start to bat. Now , it is then ,that i really started feeling the emptiness of this form of the game. Good ball or bad ball , top order or middle order batsman , everyone seemed to be swinging at everything. I couldnt help myself from thinking " Where is importance of the toss gone ? Where is that fiery opening spell from the fast bowler ? Or that early top-order wickets ? The middle order fighting it out and winning the match ? Where is the spinner coming and defeating the batsman with his loop/spin ? ". It all seemed too one-dimensional to me - Batsman try to hit , bowlers try to contain. I couldnt see any strategy at work. It all looked a fortuitous mix of talent and luck. There couldnt be more evidence of that , than the dismissal of Marlon Samuels. Arguably the best hitter in the Windies line-up after Gayle , he was made a literal non-entity today because of the format of the match. His swung the second ball he faced for a six over square leg. A couple of balls later , he was gone, trying for the same thing.Surely , 20/20 doesnt seem to be a format where it brings the best out of players , or more pertinently , it doesnt seem to allow the best players to excel always. If its your day , cool . If its not - Hard luck. I am not sure this the kind of cricket i want to watch , actually.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[yoda]

I couldnt help myself from thinking " Where is importance of the toss gone ? Where is that fiery opening spell from the fast bowler ? Or that early top-order wickets ? The middle order fighting it out and winning the match ? Where is the spinner coming and defeating the batsman with his loop/spin ? ".

You forgot one more: Where are those 5 days of my life?