Former cricketers give thumbs-up to India's T20 triumph

NEW DELHI: Former cricketers gave a thumbs-up to India's triumph in the Twenty20 World Championships and said the future of the game in the country is in safe hands.

"I am very happy that India won the Twenty20 title. This is a big win for us after a long time. The team was young and inexperienced but the way they played by knocking out some good teams was a great sight," former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi told on Tuesday, a day after India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in an enthralling final in Johannesbrg.

India's victory at the Wanderers Stadium erased the bitter memories of their first round exit from the one-day World Cup championship in the West Indies earlier this year.

"The guys have erased the bitter memories of the World Cup disaster. No one counted on these young guys but they proved everybody wrong," said Bedi.

Spin legend Erapalli Prasanna, with whom Bedi forged the most lethal spin combination, was equally elated at the win. He said, "The Twenty20 gives us an example of what is in store in the future."

Prasanna added that the Twenty20 would also affect the one-day internationals (ODIs).

"The Twenty20 experience will also help the teams to score runs faster in the first 20 overs in ODIs. This will increase the pace of the 50-over contests. The same happened when limited over matches were introduced as teams began scoring faster in Test matches," said the Karnataka spin legend.

Prasanna, who is now a board member of the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), added that India's win would obviously boost the Twenty20 culture in the country.

The ICL, promoted by the Essel Group, will host its first big event from mid-November in the form of a Twenty20 tournament.

Former players were also appreciative about Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership abilities in what was the wicketkeeper-batsman's first assignment as a skipper.

"It was remarkable to see how Dhoni kept a cool head in all kinds of situations and never did panick. His captaincy added a new dimension to the Indian cricket," said Abbas Ali Baig, former swashbuckling opener from Hyderabad.

Amidst all the euphoria, cricket veterans also sounded a note of warning. They said that equating the Twenty20 victory with the 1983 World Cup win was not justified.

"Comparing both the wins is not justified. Twenty20 is fast food and ODIs are more like traditional dishes. The guys will have to face a tough test when they play one-dayers or Tests," said Prasanna.

But former cricketers stressed that the way the young team members played, they should get a chance in Tests and ODIs.

"Some players like Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni and Rohit Sharma succeeded in scoring runs fast because they played good cricketing shots. And the ones who played cross bat shots perished quickly. So I think the boys have the talent and they should be given a chance in the longer versions soon," added Baig.