I have to begin by saying that I was very skeptical about the Twenty- Twenty format of cricket. And with Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly – all seniors players for the Indian cricket team – opting out of the Twenty -Twenty format, my belief about the frivolousness of this new format of the game was further strengthened.
But now, with about a week into the Twenty20 world cup, I stand corrected. Not only is this format more interesting and fast paced, but it also takes up less time of the spectator. In the fast paced world of today this is a really good thing.
This move of introducing the Twenty20 form of cricket should help in popularizing the game in countries like the USA where it is still relatively unknown.
India has not sent it’s best side to the ongoing World cup, but even the side that has flown to South Africa is not performing to the best of it’s ability. There is, sadly, little chance of India making it to the Semi- finals. India has already lost its first game in the round of eight to New Zealand, and to get to the next round India needs to defeat England and South Africa in it’s next two games. On paper that seems to be a daunting task, but Cricket has always been a game of uncertainity. This applies to Twenty20 cricket too. And with the wishes of a billion people of the nation backing them up, who knows what might happen on Wednesday and Thursday.
In the other group, Pakistan’s surprise victory over Sri Lanka and Australia has opened up the group. It was generally expected that Australia and Sri Lanka would move into the Semi-Finals but now it is Pakistan and one of either Australia or Sri Lanka. The two teams clash on Saturday and the team that wins moves to the next round.
All said and done there are some good games coming up in the next few days and it will be fun to watch them. In the meanwhile, I have my fingers crossed in the hope that India will win, and move to the Semi-finals.
What do you think?