From 'fun cricket' to a hit format

But to succeed in T20 today, it's not enough just to be able to hit strokes. In this quick-fire format, batsmen also need to have temperament and balance between hitting shots and keeping wickets. They also need the ability to think on their feet and play according to the situation. They also need street smarts and mental toughness.

When the inaugural tournament was about to get underway in 2007, Twenty20 was still widely perceived as the “fun” version of cricket. This reputation as a “fun” version alienated serious cricketers. Perhaps seeing things like “bowl outs” decide the fate of drawn matches made them want to shy away from such frivolity.

For the inaugural tournament, several of India's leading cricketers were retained and a team made up mainly of newcomers, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was sent off, and as soon as they returned home victorious, the veterans were sent off and this new team became the dominant force in Indian white-ball cricket.

Most other teams followed suit, with big name players dropping out and younger players taking the reins in this new format.

Before that tournament, it was expected that the 20-over format would narrow the gap between big and small teams. Zimbabwe's upset of Australia and Bangladesh's win over the West Indies were early signs that supported this idea, but as time passed, those early signs turned out to be anomalies rather than the start of a new era.

T20 expanded the market for cricket, and it didn't take long for this “fun” version to turn into serious business. Soon, the regular giants were rising to the top of the newest format. Moreover, more experienced cricketers, rather than the youngsters, began to dominate T20, with more veteran cricketers playing T20 than any other format.

Players like Mahmudullah Riyad and David Warner are retired from Test matches but continue to play T20 matches. The economic appeal of franchise cricket is partly responsible for this trend, but the opportunity to continue playing due to the shorter game duration and less strain on the body may play a bigger role. Taking advantage of this opportunity, players like Shoaib Malik, who started their careers before the 2000s, are still active and can often be seen playing somewhere.

All-rounder Alok Kapali, a member of the Bangladesh team that played in the 2007 T20 World Cup, spoke about his thinking then and the reality today: “The way we played initially, we could have been one of the top five teams in '16-17. Many people felt that the T20 format suited our style of play. We have always had more stroke players in the team.”

But to succeed in T20 today, it's not enough just to be able to hit strokes. In this quick-fire format, batsmen also need to have temperament and balance between hitting shots and keeping wickets. They also need the ability to think on their feet and play according to the situation. They also need street smarts and mental toughness.

After experiencing the atmosphere of the inaugural tournament in South Africa, Kapali felt that the format would dominate cricket in the future: “There was an amazing atmosphere at that World Cup. Everyone was interested in the new format. I felt then that this was going to be the dominant format going forward.”

The established teams have also read the situation and quickly created a domestic structure that has allowed them to dominate T20 matches while smaller teams have lagged behind.

Kapali recalls how during the first T20 World Cup, he dreamed of taking on strong teams in this format: “I went for military training in Sylhet to improve my fitness for the World Cup. Everyone thought that we had the potential to do well even in the shortest format. We were serious about it.”

“We won the first match against West Indies. In the first over I caught Chris Gayle at point. Then Ashraful and Aftab played two brilliant innings. Everyone was determined. But we just couldn't carry on.”

It is difficult to compete against traditional powerhouses in test matches. But T20 is a new format for all teams, and they all started more or less from scratch. However, differences in domestic cricket structures have created major gaps since the first tournament. Kapali's example makes it clear that the hosts are to blame for Bangladesh's failure to maintain the initial expectations in T20.

“A planned approach could have made it happen. India and Pakistan have T20 tournaments apart from the IPL and PSL respectively, which only involve local players. Now, if there had been a separate T20 tournament involving BCL and NCL players, many cricketers could have emerged from it. The BPL is unlikely to unearth new cricketers.”

Powerful teams like Australia, India and England are among the top favourites to win this year's tournament, followed by Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand. Even Sri Lanka, which has been in turmoil for some time, would be placed much higher on this list than Bangladesh.

A popular saying by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and many of his teammates is, “There are no big or small teams in T20. Any team can beat anyone.” But this statement is only half true. In the World Cup, even a small team can beat a strong team if they are in good form. But that doesn't mean that every team can win the World Cup. There is debate about which of the four or five favourite teams can win the tournament, but there is no debate about which team can't.

Despite the huge gulf in terms of standards, T20 has narrowed the gap in at least one aspect: only 12 teams can take part in Test matches, some of which barely get the chance to play red-ball cricket, and because those same 12 teams have permanent ODI status, most 50-over matches between associate teams don't count as international matches.

However, the ICC has addressed this imbalance in the shortest format by granting T20 status to all 108 member teams, meaning that the Rwanda vs Uganda match will have the same status as Australia vs England in T20.

The ICC also did away with the method of selecting participants for big events based on their Test status. Test team Zimbabwe, for example, does not have a place in this T20 World Cup. Ten teams qualified based on rankings, with the West Indies and the United States earning spots as hosts, while the remaining spots were filled through regional qualifiers. In the African qualifiers, Uganda surprised Zimbabwe to secure a spot.

The format, which began as just fun in international cricket 19 years ago and hosted the first World Cup 17 years ago, is set to return for its ninth edition, an event that many thought would not last. Caribbean legend Michael Holding has never commentated on a franchise T20 league because he doesn't consider T20 to be real cricket, but it's hard to find a more lofty cricket purist like him these days. The T20 boom has broadened cricket's horizons, but the stars that shine brightest in this grand cricketing sky remain a handful.