Twenty20 Cup

I write this blog immediately after watching a taped broadcast of India beating Pakistan in a nerve-wracking final at the Wanderers in Jo'Berg, SA.

My thoughts after watching about 3 games of this tournament, but following the scores closely on cricinfo.com and watching some snippets on youtube.

The format
I believe T20 is here to stay!! This World cup has provided several close matches and I have been very impressed by the quality of cricket that was played throughout the tournament. There were a lot of close matches, and although it sounds to the traditional cricketer as a "wham-bam-thankyou-mam" format, it really isn't and requires a fair amount of skill and planning. I think in the next 2-3 years, this format will replace 1-day cricket. I still hope that Test cricket continues, but I won't mind seeing the natural death of 1-day cricket. 50-over-a-side matches take too long to complete, and overs 15-40 are usually very boring and don't add much value to the game. The "real" 2007 world cup in the Caribbean was probably the most boring sporting event ever -- and not only because India and Pakistan were knocked out very early.

India winning this world cup is probably great for the game and this format. BCCI, in all its endeavors to make as many profits as it possibly can, has steered away from the short format since it is not as lucrative as the 1-day format. The Indian public is willing to sit for a whole day and watch a game, thereby allowing advertisements to be squeezed in between every over. T20 is faster-paced, with not as much room for ads, and I doubt BCCI would give it as much priority had India not done well in this tournament. The Indian win will now force BCCI to look into this format and hopefully schedule a lot more T20 games with touring teams rather than pointless 7-match 1-day series.

The Indian Team

India went into this world cup as underdogs and without their 3 main batting stars - Tendulkar, Dravid, and Ganguly. This was a blessing in disguise, and I am truly amazed at how some of the players stepped up and showed the kind of application, enthusiasm, and aggression that is rarely seen among Indians!
My players for the future are:
-- Rohit Sharma -- very good technique, will turn out to be a great and dependable middle order batsman (watch out Dravid!)
-- Gautam Gambhir -- he has been in and out of the team for a while now, but I think he deserves a permanent place in all formats of the game. I'd rather see him open the innings in Tests ahead of Dinesh Karthik.
-- Irfan Pathan -- now that Greg Chappell has gone for good and stopped screwing up Irfan's brains, I think he has a future, at least in the shorter formats (1-day, T20). He has lost a lot of pace, and will go for many runs in some matches, but he has a very good attitude and deserves to be persisted with.
-- Yusuf Pathan -- too early to say, but obviously he looks promising. I will give him 2 more series to come good.
-- RP Singh -- my pick of the bowlers this summer (including the tour of England and the T20 cup). An excellent attitude towards the game, and can move the ball both ways. Also plays his game without the histrionics of a Sreesanth.
-- Robin Uthappa -- great determination and attitude... though sometimes he thinks he can hit every ball out of the park. I think he trusts his instincts, which will hold him well when times are good, but I will wait to see how he copes when his form slips.
-- Dinesh Karthik -- he has a very good future, but might struggle to maintain his place in the team purely as a batsmen. And if Dhoni is captain, he might just continue to be the best 12th man.

My players of the past are:
Ajit Agarkar... seriously it is time for him to go. I am so glad he wasn't picked for the latter games of this tournament. The youngsters showed a lot more aggression and even though they went for runs, they showed a lot more application than Agarkar.
Joginder Sharma ... I think he is too slow and will always bowl too many "hit-me" balls to the batsmen. I still cannot believe how we got away (twice) with Joginder bowling the last over. We just got damn lucky against Pakistan.
Sreesanth ... he blows too hot and too cold too often. I don't know if we can afford his mood swings for any lengthy period.

Last Word:
I am fairly impressed with Dhoni as captain. Though it is a little early to judge, but he obviously has a future. I'd like to see Tendulkar captain the Test team and groom Dhoni for the job. I don't think we have much of an option for captaincy in 1-day or T20 format.


Well played India. And thank you Pakistan for putting on an EXCELLENT performance, that entertained us all!!