Why T20s must not be taken too seriously

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 10

Three days ago, Sachin Tendulkar said that the Indian T20 team is the best in the world, and that they would be the favourites to win the T20 World Cup, to be played in March-April. “I think we have the best side in the world right now,” Tendulkar said. “We can go all the way to win the Twenty20 World Cup.”

It’s never wise to start naming favourites in any Twenty20 competition — the fact is that because the matches are so short, the result can depend on as few as three balls in a game. The shorter format gives the weaker teams a chance to compete with powerful teams.

The knowledgeable fan knows this; however, T20 cricket is most popular with the casual fan of cricket. It’s this fan who needs to realise that T20 cricket is essentially the most lightweight, non-serious form of the sport. India beat Australia 3-0 recently, but we need to realise that Australia don’t take T20s as seriously as we do — that’s the reason they rested key players during that series, and sent some to New Zealand to prepare for the next series! T20 cricket is essentially for fun. Our top cricketers regularly point this out. Only two days ago, Indian ODI and T20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said you can’t select cricketers based on their IPL performances.

Tuesday night shocker 

Then came the shocker against Sri Lanka yesterday. Yet, it shouldn’t really be a ‘shocker’ if you know this cricket well — strange collapses and weird performances are central to T20 cricket. That’s the reason a non-bowler such as Rohit Sharma can take a hat-trick in T20s.

India lost to an inexperienced Sri Lankan team — it’s a second-string combination. Their pace bowling strike force — Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka — had played a total of four T20Is before yesterday. Yet the three carved the heart out of the Indian line-up, taking 8/59 among them.

Cricketers know that this happens in T20 cricket. Yet, they must face the media and explain such weird results with seriousness. So they talk about “positives to be taken” and such things.

“There were a lot of positives. It was one day everyone got a chance to bat. At the same time there was pressure on all batsmen,” Dhoni said later. “Yes, the result did not go our way, but there were a lot of positives to take away from this game.”

He did try to explain that T20 should be viewed from a different prism than, say, Test or ODI cricket. “This is a different format. Accordingly, we will have to adjust,” he said. “We should not be looking into the 50-over format. In this format if someone gets 10 off two balls, we say well played. 

“It’s a ‘different’ format, where three-ball knocks can be crucial — consequently, much can depend on luck or fluke. That’s why it’s important to realise that T20 cricket must not be taken too seriously,” he said.