ICC World Twenty20: It's not only a Batsmen Game

Much has been said and written about the IPL , its tremendous appeal , its shady deals and its role in defining the future of World Cricket. The Good, the bad and the ugly of IPL invariably casts a shadow on the ongoing T20 WC in the Caribbean’s. . However except the format this championship in Caribbean’s is as different from the just concluded IPL, which ended in such huge controversy, both for cricketing and non cricketing reasons.

To be fair IPL was always projected as Criketainment .Remember the Manoranjan ka Baap commercial during the first edition. It is as much about glamour and show biz as of cricket. It has blockbuster written all over it since the first IPL for all forth coming sequels.

ICC championships on the other hand are always more of the game than other things. Timings, locations, attracting crowd to the ground are the major off field activities by the organizers. Both previous editions of T20 WC have been resounding success and there is no reason why the tournament won’t be a tremendous success this time too.

Since the off field activities of IPL will run into volumes and still be not clear to us, the gullible fans, let’s stick to the 22 yard pitch. And the first thing that strikes you of the ICC T20 WC tournament so far is the balance shifting ever so slightly towards the bowlers. Cricket in last few years have been a Batsmen game. T20 is punishment for the bowlers. The batsmen are almost violent when they launch into a brutal assault. With shorter boundaries even mishits fly off for sixes often. So it was quite a change to see the size of the ground. The boundaries are a good 80-85 m compared to the 65-70m we have been seeing off late. Add to that the sluggish out field (which frankly is a big let down even though it acts in bowlers favor) and we have a different ball game altogether. You can almost hear a silent hurray from the bowlers of all teams in unison. Teams are accustomed to smaller grounds and placid tracks. More specifically in the sub continent, the boundaries are brought in for ODI’s and T20’s. More sixes means more crowd appeal, higher totals and big chases. While it’s all right for revenue of the game, somewhere the bowling and fielding takes a backseat. The teams with stronger batting line ups win more often even with pretty ordinary bowling attack. The Indian team is a prime example.

The long boundaries and pitches with life in it is changing the standard approach to the game in this T20 WC. Teams will have to modify their all out attack. The Big hitters will have to mollify themselves.The pace and bounce of the pitch will encourage the fast bowlers up front while the spinners may take more risks instead of containing the batsmen, as the chances of batsmen getting caught in the out field is that much more. Big grounds also means more open spaces and the running between the wicket will be as vital as it always is with little more urgency. Fielders with strong arms will be worth their weight in gold. Trust the bowling and fielding standards to go up by a notch. And paradoxically this also means batting displays of higher order as the bowler and batsman indulge in some even contest between ball and bat. Expect close low scoring contests. Batsmen like Pollard, Dhoni, Yusuf, Afridi who on song look like superman with a willow in hand will do well to re adjust their game. This is a short tournament and there is no second chance if you slip.

With Raina in full flow no ground is too big

Having said that let’s not forget its T20. There is no time to hang around in hope of conditions improving for batting. Batsmen will take their chances. Salman Butt , Ashraful did it yesterday, Raina , De Villers pulled it off today. Batsmen of such quality on fire will not find any ground too big. But at least the bowlers this time may bowl with more hope of getting a wicket. Fielders may find more balls landing into their hands instead of sailing over their head.

The league stages are where Big teams have a chance or two to improvise against the minnows. There is not a moment to slack. From next week they will have to Play to Stay in the run. On May16th the Cup will be lifted by team with best all round display and not solely on batting power.