T20 ...Game of the Future ??

I guess the T20 World Cup euphoria must have died down by now and people have started realising that the 1983 win and the 2007 T20 win are worlds apart and comparing them would be foolhardy and a sheer waste of time.

Agreed that T20 is a game of the future and given the football like adrenalin rush it gives, this version of the game is here to stay...Not only is money in there for the business houses but it also to an extent popularises the game in lesser known orbits where folks wont waste an entire day watching the game or for that matter playing. But have we ever pondered over the larger threat it holds to the longer verison (the 50-50 one)....Going by the makings of it I wouldnt rule out a stage when we have more T20 matches than ODIs...Yes it kills the sport (read makes it more presentable to the masses) but isnt everyone really interested in the money and sheer entertainment rather than quality. We will have players tailor-made for this format in future. We will have separate teams for T20, ODI and Tests...the most popular being the T20 one.

But imagine a career wasted playing just T20 and never ever being given an opportunity to play a Test or an ODI. What you are trying to do is branding players and ruining their careers. A career in T20 will last as long as you fire and can die a sudden death and going by how cruel the sport can be you can be rest assured that you wont get many lifelines.

If Kerry Packer revolutionised One-day cricket with his D/N matches and coloured clothing I guess T20 will do much more than that...Come to think of it - Coloured clothing is a neccessity for D/N matches but since they became so popular we now see them being used for the Day matches as well (defies logic but makes it attractive and enhances viewership which is what finally matters) . Rules were bent to accomodate uncertainity and excitement which will happen again with the advent of T20...One of them being the famous "Free Hit". I guess we are some distance away from a "Bowl Out" in an ODI...that would be outrageous though.

I am not patronising nor criticising T20 ...my only concern is the threat it holds for the future and what it can do to change the face of One-Day cricket. Test Cricket I guess will be limited to routine tours and we may never ever see a World Test Championship again.

Quoting Shahid Afridi - "You can expect a T20 World Cup every 2 years though !!"