Cricket Tournaments

Cricket was first played over a span of five days between a few teams like England, Australia and South Africa. This five-day format is called test cricket. Soon, other countries too joined in and started playing cricket, taking it as a serious sport.

Test cricket was at its peak until the first ever 60-overs one-day international match was played between Australia and England at MCG in January 1971. Soon, this format of the game became so popular that the first limited-overs World Championship of Cricket was played in England just four years later, which West Indies won.

Ever since then, the one-day game has been prone to changes. For example, in the 1980s, the ICC reduced the amount of overs in a limited-overs fixture from 60 to 50, making the game more interesting for spectators. And till today, a one-day international (ODI) game remains a usual 50-over affair.

Since the era of commercializing cricket perhaps began in the 90’s, it was expected that the ODIS would be a hit among sponsors as well, who would be willing to advertise as viewers across the world are glued to their television sets watching a cricket match intensely as ever. More World Cup tournaments were held with coloured clothing introduced in the 1992 edition of the World Cup, which was the idea of Kerry Packer, the Australian who advocated cricket with coloured clothing as early as the 70’s.

White balls were introduced, making it possible to host day-night matches using white balls. Soon white balls were given the thumbs-up to be used in day matches as well which even required new, black sight-screens. Thus the one-day game became a favourite amongst every cricket lover.

But then came perhaps the golden phase of cricket. In 2003, a new version of limited overs cricket called the T-20’s was introduced in England. This format meant that unlike matches in which each team had to bat 50 overs, here the teams have to bat just 20 overs each or 120 balls in simple terms.

This implied that matches would get over quickly and runs would be scored at a faster rate. Twenty-20 became a hit in England and thus like the one-day game was spread across the world. And it has also become internationally-acclaimed when the ICC introduced the T-20 internationals concept in 2005. Since then, T-20 has taken the world by storm. It has reached heights as spectators would be more willing to watch a much more exciting and short T-20 game rather than a relatively boring and a longer 50-over game.

So the question rises – Can the 50-over survive for long?

It may not, as the inaugural T-20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa, saw a large number of audiences in the stadium as well as on television, bettering the 2007 50-over World Cup in the West Indies by far. And to top it, India won the T-20 World Cup, resulting in more fan-following as India is a popular team in most cricketing countries.

As a matter of fact, the T-20 was a mode of cricket getting globalized and not just commercialized through India. Soon, the Indian Premier League (IPL) followed which was the Indian cricket board’s (BCCI) brainchild. And this tournaments played between the top 8 cricketing cities across India, became a hit amongst viewers across the world as well as international players in the first edition itself in 2008.

Then Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, made sure that the tournament took place in South Africa in 2009 despite security threats. South Africa, too embraced T-20s like never before. Looking at this, other countries like England and Australia are planning to form their own tournaments based on the concept of IPL as cricket then would reach to a new level in the countries due to the dwindling interest of people there in the one-dayers. The ICC too is reckoning whether the IPL must have a place in the future tours programme (FTP), which is basically the international cricket calendar.

However, the one-day game still has a place in cricket even if cricketers give importance to either test cricket or T-20s. The one-dayers determine whether a batsman is wholesome, i.e, if he can defend as well as attack, reacting to the situation as demanded. It shows whether bowlers are skilled enough to face challenges in test cricket. It tests the pressures of fielders, therefore one-dayers can determine fielding standards of a team.

So, the one day game can survive as long as the ICC gives meaning to it in its FTP. It could foster national pride within players as well rather than they wanting to play in tournaments such as the IPL. Or like Sachin Tendulkar suggested that the one-day format could be further revamped by making it like a longer T-20 in the test style where each team bats 25 overs in two innings each and are followed by strategic time-outs.

This makes the scoring rate faster like the T-20s and could rekindle the interest of audiences across the world. Perhaps more matches could also take place with top one-day teams clashing against each other, such as India, Australia and South Africa. The ICC has tried to make the one day game survive by the successful organizing of the Champions Trophy every two years in different countries. They have also taken a risk by making the game batting-friendly by allowing 20 overs of the power play for the batting side, i.e. fielding restrictions.

However, the one day format of cricket is falling apart thanks to all countries accepting T-20’s as the future of the game. T-20’s seem to be a practical way of playing cricket these days. With events such as the IPL, the one day game is nowhere at the moment. Even Tendulkar’s idea will take time to be implemented by the ICC and accepted by people warmly.

Reducing ticket prices won’t help if people aren’t interested and patient in watching 50-over cricket. So, its true that cricket needs to respect the 50-over format and recognize players appropriately for their achievements, like in the 90’s. The 50-over game can survive if the ICC doesn’t act like a puppet to the BCCI and respects the quality of cricket rather than the money involved in it. In fact, I believe that if 50-over cricket will grow money if its quality is good enough to appeal fans across the world.

It’s been over 100 years since the game’s inception—a lot has changed. The game has swayed from bowlers to batsmen. Some of the factors deciding this could be:

Placid wickets: Flat decks are found in most stadiums across the world. This is due to the commercialization of the game as people like to see more runs scored. As the era has moved on, we see a gradual change from uncovered to covered pitches. In the times of English opener Geoffrey Boycott, the pitches were uncovered thus making batting extremely difficult.

However, in the recent era, pitches are covered to protect from adverse weather conditions. A stat to confirm the above – in the 1990’s, only Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Brian Lara and XYZ averaged over 50 after playing 20 Tests where as in the 2000’s there’s been a increased rise in the number of batsmen averaging over 50.

Rules:
In order to help batsman take advantage of the new ball, the ICC, after the 1983 World Cup, introduced field restrictions which basically meant that only two fielders would be allowed outside the 30-yard circle for the first 15 Overs. This was tweaked a little when in 2005 when the power-plays were introduced which is an extended version of the field restrictions.

One bouncer per over: To add to this, in 1992, in order to control the aggressive nature of the bowlers, the ICC introduced the one bouncer per over rule. Not a very famous rule amongst the commoners, the ICC had banned bouncers for a 7 year period. However, they re-instated the rule. Thank goodness for that!

Free hit: The inception of the free hit in 2007 just after the Twenty-20 World Cup only added to the agony of the bowlers. Yet, another rule in favour of the batsmen. The free hit means that if the bowler oversteps, the batsman has an opportunity to play a big shot without any fear of being given out. The only possible way of getting out is a run-out. And worse, one run is already added to the batting team’s total (no ball).

Equipments: One of the ongoing issues that has sparked off a debate amongst experts being the size of the cricket bat. Bat widths seem to be growing year after year. The fact of the matter being if that can happen; then why can’t something be done to the 5 and a half ounce cherry. Why isn’t the ball made smaller/lighter? Why favour the batsmen?
The ICC is still to answer this.

Ground sizes: Grounds in South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand are too small in size thus leaving the bowlers with no margin for error.

One of the major reasons to this (batting friendly game) is the sponsors. Take for case Test cricket. The sponsors in order to fill in maximum commercial slots try and take the game to 5 days which doesn’t happen on a green wicket. The ICC needs to take heed of this and make cricket a contest between bat and ball and not a ‘video game’.

The Indian team may have retained their number two ranking in ODIs despite the loss in the tri-series finals, but their insipid showing does not augur well for the World Cup, which is just over a year away. The worrying aspect is that this is not a one-off loss. India have been faltering in the finals way too often in recent years and in most cases, it is the strong batting line-up that has let them down. The Dhaka final had a similar tale to tell. This is one aspect India will need to work on very hard if they want to be seen as strong contenders for the 2011 World Cup.

Cricket may be a team game, but it is important that each and every individual takes up certain responsibility and tries to fulfil it to the hilt, especially in such crunch games. Starting with the openers, Virender Sehwag can play only one way and should continue doing so, but his partner Gautam Gambhir could look at adopting a slightly cautious in case Sehwag is doing well. To be fair to Gambhir, he has been doing an excellent job and was plain unlucky to be dismissed in the finals, but then things could have been different had he decided to take his time and not attempted strokes from the word go.

Virat Kohli had a great series, but unfortunately failed on the D-day. While one can’t be too harsh on him as he is still relatively inexperienced, his shot selection was rather disappointing for a man in prime form. Kohli needs to realize that such purple patches don’t come in your career often and hence you must make the best use of it. The plus point in Kohli’s favour is that he has proved to be a quick learner – the transformation from scoring 30s and 40s to hundreds has been rather swift. He now just needs to carry on the good work.

Like Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni’s shot selection was also questionable. But then that’s the flip side of being aggressive. When it doesn’t work, it ends up looking rather ugly. India would dearly hope the experienced duo can get their act together in future finals. That is because if they fire, there is very little chance of India losing, such will be the brutality of their attack. In short, the Indian batters need to work out a proper mechanism when it comes to competing in finals.

To be brutally honest, the situation is equally bad in the bowling department, if not worse. And a lot of it has to be attributed to the non-stop cricket the Indians have been playing (for some weird reason, mostly against Sri Lanka) as well as the power play restrictions. Zaheer Khan has clearly lost the edge he held over batsmen over six months back and his partner Ashish Nehra’s fitness concerns have comeback to haunt him again. To lose Nehra in a final was a big setback for India and vindicates the selectors’ stance to keep him away from the Test squad. Harbhajan Singh continues to bamboozle us all and this has been haunting India for a dangerously long time. Time for some soul searching, boys.

What transpired at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi on Sunday was embarrassing and extremely sad. It was the last cricketing day of the year for Sri Lanka and India.

Both teams and more importantly the spectators, who had turned up in large numbers and with loads of expectations, did not deserve such an inexplicable fiasco. Surely, such things cannot happen in a nation that, everyone knows, can hold world cricket to ransom on the basis of the huge money it brings into the game. Then again, as the popular saying goes, it happens only in India.

The catastrophe in waiting was predictable even before the game began. During the pre-match pitch report, Sunil Gavaskar compared the surface to a hair-weaving job — bald patches interspersed with grass coverings. No one could predict how the pitch would play and so, not surprisingly, MS Dhoni decided to bowl first and have a look. The delay due to misty conditions only turned out to be the calm before the storm.

To take nothing away from Zaheer Khan, he bowled a peach of a delivery to send back the in-from Upul Tharanga off the first ball. But what followed from thereon can be attributed neither to the batters nor the bowlers.

It was the Kotla pitch that was dictating the terms of play. It was as if the curators had given ghostly qualities to the pitch, as some balls leapt close to or over the batsmen’s shoulder after pitching and others rolled along the square, hardly having any life as it trudged into the keeper’s gloves. And when such things happen, the chances of serious injuries to batsmen become imminent.

One can even go to the extent of saying that it was surprising Kumar Sangakkara waited for so long before calling off the game – over 20 overs. Yes, such was the viciousness of Kolta on Sunday.

Tillakaratne Dilshan was hit on the elbow by one that reared up from a good length, while Sanath Jayasuriya took one on the shoulder from a delivery that had pitched in an area close by. Luckily, no one was seriously injured and before anyone did, the suave Sangakkara took the smart decision of stepping in and bringing the curtains down on the game abruptly.

While one feels extremely sad for the fans, there are no two ways about it that the Lankan captain made the right choice. If anything, the DDCA must be held responsible.

They had enough time to prepare a good international pitch. Unfortunately, what they offered was no acceptable even by gully cricket standards. This is what happens when the reins of sports are handed over to the power-greedy politicians. Everyone wants things their way and the end result is the curator doesn’t have a proper say, leading to vicious results.

Of course, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in India. 12 years ago, an ODI in Indore had to be abandoned between the same two teams for the same reason.

The men in charge over there have since got their act right and Indore games have produced some fabulous entertainment. DDCA too must act swiftly and move over this shameful episode, more so because they are scheduled to host four matches during the 2011 World Cup.

Is this the stroke of luck Sri Lanka needed? For the first time in five years, India will be without the two lynchpins of their middle-order – skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, one serving a ban and the other ruled out due to a recurrence of his finger injury. Moreover, Lanka have fond memories of the venue for the fourth and crucial ODI. Thirteen years ago, it was here at Eden Gardens, Kolkata that a rampaging Lankans knocked India out of the World Cup in an embarrassing fashion. So despite being 2-1 down, they still have enough going for them. It’s now up to the visitors to exploit the situation to the hilt.

Let’s not be unfair to India though. Considering that they won at Cuttack in an extremely handsome fashion, the home side will start as favourites even in the absence of Dhoni and Yuvraj. In Virender Sehwag, they have a positive stand-in skipper and a batsman whose credentials do not need to be discussed. It will help that he has been in great form. Additionally, Sachin Tendulkar too has played with a lot of comfort. His knock at Cuttack should given the side further assurance that they can afford a somewhat brittle middle-order. While Sehwag and Tendulkar have been among the runs, the same cannot be said around Gautam Gambhir. And so India would be hoping that the southpaw has a big one reserved for Kolkata.

Coming back to the middle-order, this game will be a great opportunity for the youngsters to stand up and show what stuff they are made of. Suresh Raina will get an opportunity to bat up the order, and it’s about time he starts converting his 30s and 40s into big scores. Ditto with Virat Kohli. In his short stint at the international level, it has been observed that Kohli loses focus after getting a good start and looking well set for a big score. Here’s a chance for him to set the record straight. Among the others, Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja would be expected to chip in if needed.

As has been the case throughout the series, the Indian bowling and fielding, in particular, will be under the scanner. The pacemen continued to struggle in the third ODI and it was only due to the efforts of the spinners that India could make a superb comeback. While it is good news that the Eden Gardens pitch will offer assistance to the slow bowlers in the latter half of the innings, the fast bowlers will have to put up a better show else the efficiency of the spinners will automatically be reduced.

One should also be careful of not putting excessive pressure on Jadeja, the bowler. While it is true that he bowled excellently in the last game, it is also a fact that he’s more of a part-time spinner and won’t be as successful consistently. That responsibility is still to be shouldered by Harbhajan Singh. If Jadeja manages to get through his quota of overs without being overtly expensive and picks up the odd wicket, he will have done his bit. And if India succeeds in wrapping up the series at Kolkata, the team too would have done its job well.

There was little going against India in the fourth ODI at Mohali. They won the toss, got the better of the bowling conditions, restricted Australia to an easily achievable target and even put up an unexpected sparking performance in the field. Yet, they ended up on the losing side. It can only be put down to a complacent effort by their batsmen on a pitch where the ball was coming on to the bat very nicely till the very end. All India needed was a reasonable score from one of their top order batsmen and decent contributions from a couple of the others and they would have cantered home rather easily. Not only have the home side squandered a rare opportunity to go 3-1 up against Australia, they have also given the ‘wounded’ Aussies a new lease of life in the tournament. And we all know how dangerous they can get once they smell blood.

The entire Indian batting line-up needs to be held responsible for the defeat, may be with the exception of Virender Sehwag, who, it seems, has been given the license (or may be he has taken it himself) of going after every delivery. While it has been absolutely entertaining to watch him taking on the bowlers, how the Indians would wish he can carry on a bit longer. It’s not all that difficult for the man. Asking him to change his natural style would only backfire on India; if only he can be slightly judicious in his shot selection in the remainder of the series, Australia’s woes would be compounded to magnanimous proportions. As it is they are struggling to put together a fit XI. The Indians cannot get a better opportunity to put it across the Aussies, something they have failed to do in a long time at home against the world champions.

Sri Lanka recently sent out the message to the veteran Sanath Jayasuriya that his spot in the ODI team is not guaranteed anymore, unless he performs with some degree of consistency. It may be too early, but the same principle must also apply to Sachin Tendulkar. He hasn’t crossed 50 in any of the four ODIs and the poor decision he got at Mohali cannot be considered as an excuse. The Indian team management must ask itself and Sachin the tough put pertinent question – will he still be around when the 2011 World Cup comes. One is not querying Sachin’s commitment, but it has been often proved in recent times that his splitting the Gambhir-Sehwag combo has harmed the team’s chances.

Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are still young, yet they need to learn sooner rather than later. What is disappointing is that they aren’t really making a concerted effort to dig themselves in when the team needs. Kohli played an expansive stroke before getting set, whereas Jadeja ran himself out needlessly. Suresh Raina has been on the international circuit for a couple of seasons now and he, more than the other youngsters, needs to put his hand up and lead the brigade of the young guns. When he made his comeback last year, he stroked some sparking centuries. Even though against minnows, the tons made one believe that he was ready to climb up the ladder. That though is yet to happen and, like Rohit Sharma, Raina too will face exclusion unless he performs soon.

A lot to improve upon for India as they head into the next game. The hosts would have reclaimed the top spot had they beat the Aussies at Mohali. But considering their disappointing performance, it is clear that they are not yet ready to take over the numero uno slot.