The 20/20 Impact

The Indian Premier League's (IPL) started with a bang, ended with a bigger bang, and has also added a lot of bang to the players' big bucks. It is now poised to change the face, body, style and structure of cricket, in double quick time. A game of larger than life size entertainment, in a slam-bang version, with a flamboyant start, a gut-wrenching climax, and a feisty finish. Slam-bang cricket fans can raise a toast, for now, 10 runs per over is par for the course. Clearly, "enough isn't" defines this brand of mean and macho cricket. No amount of runs is really enough, anything is chaseable, and the bowlers are there only to be taken to the cleaners, and to complete the picture.

So is IPL an idea whose time has come? Will it throw up newer and brighter superstars and benchmarks for the ODIs? On present evidence, it definitely promises to leave a huge impact. Next time when a Gilchrist or a Sehwag takes guard in a 50-over ODI, viewers will not miss the buzz about him, while bowlers the world over would rather pray that they not end up as his prey!

Some things you can be sure of in life after 20/20: a) There will be more sixes scored in cricket b) Whatever the experts may say, the copybook style of cricket will take a giant step towards becoming an antique piece of fiction c) Bowlers will have to rely much more on their guile and get innovative, and less on their art.
Why? Because the art of bowling works on the possibility of the batsman violating the copybook, but when there is no copybook, its potency is easily de-fanged. And that's where guile and deception come in.
For bowlers in 20/20, honesty is the worst policy. Honest bowlers are like human bombs. They come, hurl a ball, get bombed. To survive in this cruel, merciless, ugly and football-style cricket, you need to be dishonest with the ball - soccer-style. The only difference is, there's no body contact here, and it's more a clash of the minds, the willow versus the red cherry. Where you, as a bowler, don't need to conquer the batsman's mind, but to deceive him.

Cricket, a gentleman's game, is past. The future is all about stars, wannabe stars, and star bucks, on and off the field.