Decline of T20 Cricket: The IPL & T20s are not a threat to Tests & ODIs anymore
The Indian Premier League as 'India's festival' was a term that held gravitas a couple of years back. At times it felt players from all over showed a lot more commitment to this money-infested, scandals-ridden dark underbelly of cricket. Those were times when the future of cricket was in question, and whether it was finally time to put Test cricket to rest.
Today however, IPL as 'India's festival' are hauntingly empty words.
The Golden Age Of IPL
Spectators quickly latched on to the IPL, for it was a concoction of tantalising ideas that would lead to fantastic entertainment – entertainment being the solitary goal. It wasn't the first T20 league to come into existence, but it was definitely the most ostentatious.
Teams from prominent Indian cities were created, owned by popular movie stars, business tycoons or both. The number of digits on the cheques lead to many players not thinking twice before agreeing to play in the league. It was, after all, the apotheosis of the new age of cricket.
The new age centred around the T20 format - a format that teased shorter matches, big hits, glitz, glamour and quality entertainment. It was, at best, junk food cricket, and it latched onto our hearts and minds with increasing nonchalance.
The Decline Of IPL
The half-empty seats at stadiums, eminent disinterest in the current season of IPL and sporadic controversies are ominous signs for a darker future for the IPL, and T20 cricket in general. Cricket fans have been satiated with top-notch cricket in the recent World Cup, where internationally acclaimed batsmen fought to salvage a country's dream against crafty, raging internationally acclaimed bowlers that fought to salvage their's.
Whether it was New Zealand's Greatest Time Of Their Life campaign, South Africa's enamoured chase for elusive glory, Bangladesh's fighting spirit or India's flawless display upto the semi-final, the World Cup told a great story, that cannot be replicated by any minor league.
For Indian fans, this World Cup was preceded by a spirited tour of Australia, where Test Cricket was played with an aggression unseen and resilience that kept viewers captivated. The pulchritude of the longer format of cricket, at times under-appreciated, was once again unearthed, and this time it stood in stark contrast to the shortcomings of T20 cricket – a reversal of roles that had earlier pushed T20 cricket forward.
Once the transient seduction of junk food cricket had stagnated, it was a hard task to not let viewer interest fizzle. IPL's biggest mistake was trying to grow above cricket, and establish a supreme dominance that would ultimately lead to it's decline. With teams full of young, inexperienced Indian talents, the quality of cricket would never be close to that in the international arena. The fact that most big knocks were quality batsmen toying with inexperienced bowling was hidden under the mask of entertainment.
T20 cricket and the shortage of time
Are four overs ample time for bowlers to set up a batsman, lure him with variations and execute strategies? How many wickets in T20 cricket are due to batsmen throwing their wickets and not bowlers snatching them with skill? Is this the perfect format to judge Yuvraj Singh's calibre, when he's not given the time to set up an innings customary to his style?
Wahab Riaz's ruthless spell to Shane Watson is one that T20 cricket can never replicate, because it lacks the tools to create engrossing cricket with longevity. Steve Smith's flawless knock against India is something T20 cricket can never appreciate, and therein lies it's biggest flaws.
These flaws can only be beneficial for cricket in the long run, aiding it in nurturing the teaser trailer form of cricket that is T20 while sanguinely protecting the sanctity of Test and ODI cricket.