Cricket: Advancement in technology and improvement in infrastructure is the need of the hour

Cricket, as a sport, has been ever improving. Ever since it was created to be an activity for the rich and the powerful, it has been growing and maturing along with the people that play it, in a constant effort to improve itself.

In today’s ever competitive world, everything has to remain near-perfect to fight for a secure place in society. Cricket, as a sport, has been forced to improve and fight for its place as well. Gone are the days when people would have to throng the stadiums to get to watch a match, to watch their heroes perform and entertain themselves, and if you can’t get those elusive tickets, then you have to be content with a place on the roofs or the near-by buildings.

But today, with the advancement of technology and the emergence of satellite television broadcast, if you haven’t been able to secure tickets to a game, you could always catch it on television and still enjoy yourselves. Along with the TV viewing came a larger base for viewership, which, in turn, increased the popularity and reach of the sport; which has shaped cricket into one of the most watched and followed sports across the world today.

In this constant effort to improve itself, cricket has seen many developments over the years – the constant improving of rules to suit the modern game, the new methods employed to improve playing conditions and what-not. It is during this time of modernization that newer teams have been introduced, more countries are learning the sport and competing on the world stage and of course, the emergence of cricket as an alternative form of revenue has seen the invention of football style premier leagues.

Other than the domestic competitions and ‘premier’ leagues, there are a host of worldwide competitions like the World Cup (both 50 overs and T20) and Champions Trophy. The focal point of this article is to look at the various shortcomings in technology and its implementation across the whole game, with the Champions Trophy being the basis of reference.

The ICC Champions Trophy has been in place for the last 15 years and is 2nd in importance only to the World Cup for the 50 over format, and has been contested approximately every 2 years since. It has always been a competitive event where the world’s top ODI teams battle it out to claim that they are the best in the world. This year, it hasn’t been any different. We’ve seen some exciting matches, matches where teams have played some brilliant cricket; where both batsmen and bowlers have shined along with their teammates on the field.

Though you can argue those matches have been well contested, there have been matches where rain has marred the day’s play. Even though some of those matches weren’t extremely important in the context of the whole tournament, they do end up playing a huge part towards the business end of the series, and in turn affect teams that deserve to go through on the basis of their performances and not on luck and other factors.