Twenty 20 Blog

Andrew Flintoff’s upcoming retirement has provoked cynical rumblings across the land as to the motives of England’s talisman. In an age where money talks most, many feel that Flintoff’s focus has been drawn from his country to the millions he can earn if fully fit and available for next year’s IPL. This may well be the case and if so who can blame him after an injury-ravaged 4 years which has seen him spend more time on the operating table than on a cricket field. Aussie stars Hayden and Gilchrist have already quit the international arena for domestic Twenty20 and the promise of a few more big paydays on the sub-continent.

However while these players were coming to the end of glittering international careers anyway (in Flintoff’s case it was becoming a question of which tendon would fail next) there’s a worrying line of thought that players might start to quit at an earlier age to cash on lucrative domestic tournaments and foreign leagues.

Twenty20 $s vs Test cricket prestige

It becomes a case of financial reward against the prestige of Test cricket. Which players are prepared to sacrifice the

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England’s performance in the World Twenty20 was a strange mix and in a way summed up this form of the game - completely unpredictable.

They were widely ridiculed when defeat to Holland in the tournament opener put them in danger of an embarrassingly early exit but just a few days later they claimed an emphatic win of eventual champions Pakistan. This was followed by a drubbing at the hands of South Africa, a thrilling win over India by the narrowest of margins before a rain-affected exit at the hands of the West Indies who really came alive again in this competition after a dismal performance in last month’s Test series.

However as disappointing as their exit was, given the tight finish and England’s recent dominance against the West Indies, did they deserve to be in the semi-finals ?  Probably not and it’s only down to the excellence of their bowlers that they got anywhere near. The trio of Anderson, Sidebottom and Broad were a revelation and give England plenty to build on in this form of the game in the future. They all possessed that deadly combination of accuracy, pace and variety and showed the sort of nous that English bowlers have lacked in limited overs cricket for all too long. Apart from against the West Indies, the bowling at the death was superb, particularly against India where it was no mean feat to hold off the might of Mahendra Dhoni and his big hitting compatriots.

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With a glittering array of batting talent, the experience of winning in 2007 and huge partisan crowds India were the bookies favourites to win the ICC World Twenty20 2009. Their failure to even make it out of the Super 8s was the biggest shock of the tournament.

So why did India fail to perform?  With all due respect to the likes of Zaheer Khan and RP Singh, it’s the batsmen who win matches in Twenty20 and India’s star-studded line-up were like rabbits in the headlights at times, a fact captain Mahendra Dhoni has acknowledged.

“The bowlers did well but the batting really hasn’t been up to the mark. With the batsmen, if the top three don’t click it becomes very hard.”

The loss of Sehwag hit India hard

A lot of people underestimated just how much the loss of injured opener Virender Sehwag would affect the team. Sehwag is a proven performer on the biggest stage and India missed his ability to set the tone of an innings and make the best attacks look ordinary. Momentum is huge in Twenty20 and without Sehwag, India lacked experience at the

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Since its launch in 2008 the IPL has been a cricketing phenomenon. The money men have long been exploring possibilities to cash in on the game’s immense popularity in Asia and they’ve done so in spectacular style with the most lucrative tournament cricket has ever seen.

There’s no doubt that Twenty20 and the IPL in particular have revitalised cricket, attracting a whole new audience to the game and providing a level of financial reward rarely seen outside of football. However you can have too much of a good thing and the game’s administrators need to be careful that the Twenty20 format doesn’t stray down the same path as 50 over cricket. International cricket in recent years has become a year-long treadmill with too many meaningless one-day matches featuring players simply going through the motions.

The IPL 2010 will be held from March-April

These thoughts came to mind when I saw the provisional 2010 schedule (it will be made concrete in a few months). The plan is to hold the IPL a month earlier than usual, straight after India’s February tour to South Africa. This means the tournament will run from March-April with most of the matches taking place in March. The reason for shifting it back in the calendar is because the World Twenty20 is being held from April-May and those who run the game want to

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The 2 week long adrenaline rush that is the World Twenty20 Cup is back and when it comes to this form of the game, the Indians are kings. They are the reigning champions and odds on favourites to repeat their memorable triumph in South Africa two years ago.

The sheer drama of India’s 2007 triumph set the ball rolling for the success of Twenty20

Thrills and spills were in abundance during the inaugural competition. India were on the verge of going out in the group stages but won a thrilling bowl-out against Pakistan to reach the super 8. There they bounced back from defeat against New Zealand to beat England and South Africa and seal a semi-final place. Yuvraj Singh’s brilliant 70 off just 30 balls helped see off Australia before a heroic bowling performance in the final clinched another dramatic win over Pakistan with just 3 balls remaining.

Australia may rule at Test Cricket but when it comes to the game’s shortest form India are the most feared side and with good reason. They have the most dynamic team in the competition with flair and athleticism in abundance. Virtually every member of their starting eleven is a potential match-winner.

8 of the 11 players who won the final last time round are in the 2009 squad which is an exciting mix of new talent and experience. Sehwag, Harbhajan and Dhoni are all back and India’s most experienced bowler

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