Tests losing status as instant cricket leagues flourish

A frenzied crowd screaming in favour of their team, waving flags, engrossed to the bone watching the ball race across the boundary line and fly over it. A stunning catch or the rattle of the wicket, these are familiar images associated with a T20 match. The Indian Premier League is the final destination for these followers of a sport which is being redefined and its foundational basics are being challenged.

Around a decade back, these now familiar scenes were enacted for the first time at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. The world was watching, wondering how the birth of the IPL would impact the traditions of the game, as the best cricketers, paid unimaginable sums, were to participate in the tournament.

Thousands were present at the ground, enjoying each moment of the beastly hitting from the middle and the carnival-like atmosphere in the stands, complete with a DJ and a band. A staid sport that had sustained itself on generally restrained participation of the crowd, was being transformed into a world overflowing with vigour, energy and over-excited at the thrill-a-second action.

It was obvious that Day 1 of the IPL had been a resounding success, but the traditionalist in me refused to accept the reality. My colleague, Atreyo Mukhopadhyay, realising the enormity of what he had seen, was sure that IPL had taken off with a bang but I disagreed, believing that the crowd was enjoying only the novelty of the action and in the long run will not endorse this brand of cricket.

Today, I am wiser by experience, but was still astonished at the thousands that had turned up to watch the Mumbai T20 league final this week at Wankhede Stadium. The television commentator, describing the action live, estimated the crowd being in the range of 25,000. Those at the ground say the stadium could have been full had the organisers, the Mumbai Cricket Association, not kept a few enclosures closed, fearing poor turn-out.

Needing 26 runs in the final over, Shivaji Park Lions missed the target by four runs as three sixes and a four were hit in the final over. What Dinesh Karthik did to Bangladesh in the final at Colombo, was almost repeated by an unknown Shivam Dubey, underscoring the fact that in this format of cricket, last-ball sixes and a shower of boundaries is no big deal.

That a city league final, with no big star figuring in it, could lure a larger crowd than a Test match does, especially in India, is in itself a commentary on the massive popularity of this format. MCA, which was not sure how the league would unfold, got around `50 crore from the various franchises who bought the teams, leaving them stunned at its success. Even if MCA had been able to gather the best of cricketers from India for a four-day game, they would have failed to fill even half of the Wankhede. The same holds true for any other place in India.

Similar leagues, based on the IPl model, are being played with great success in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Jharkhand and other states are bound to follow. The mushrooming of the T20 leagues and its spread, reach and success, be it in India or other cricket playing nations, is like a storm.

It’s gathering speed could uproot the foundations of its more than century old format much faster than any one anticipates. If the administrators want Test cricket to survive, even as a niche format, they have a job at hand. This seems to be an unequal battle.

sports@newindianexpress.com