'If one-dayer is pyjama cricket, Twenty20 is underwear cricket'

This is underwear cricket

According to former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, Twenty20 will definitely lead to a fall in skill quotient.

If one-day cricket was pyjama cricket, then Twenty20 is underwear cricket. You have to remember that there can be no fruit without root. Test cricket will remain the standard bearer for the sport. Twenty-20 can be a good advertisement for the sport and can be used to lure new nations into the sport. It is the kind of cricket, that seems attractive to view but to the viewers who are used to seeing high quality cricket, the standards may start to dip. It will never test your true ability. Even ordinary cricketers can succeed, all you have to do is come out and swing your bat. So the skill quotient will definitely drop.

And what does it do for the bowlers? Absolutely nothing. If you go to watch a heavyweight title match bout, it has to be between opponents of similar class or else it is a lop-sided encounter. They have to think of the bowlers too. What will the spinners do? Flight is already a forgotten art. Spin and spinners will be killed. You have bowlers like Chris Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya, who are capable of firing the ball in, succeeding but what about the rest.

For that matter, what will the pacemen do? From ball One, the batsmen will be out to hammer them. This succeeded in England because no one was interested in watching cricket there. In India, people are already addicted to cricket — why do we even need this here?

This cricket is like a burger, you can have it once a week but for a whole meal you need to return to Test cricket. More than once a week and it will give you a tummy ache. Yes, the music, the carnival-like atmosphere, the cheer leaders make it good fun but I don’t think it can ever take the place of real cricket.

Twenty20 is like a mirage, looks good for afar but come close and it’s all an illusion. I expect it to fade away rather quickly. In the 80s and 90s, double wicket cricket was big and I played in a few tournaments too. Big stars too played it. But where is it now? Twenty20 has to be given in small doses — don’t overdo it.

No room for negativity

Ramesh Powar gives a thumb-up cricket’s latest avtar, citing its benefits for batsmen, spectators and bowlers

It is without doubt an entertaining format, largely designed keeping in mind the needs of the public. Please remember that it is a batsman’s game at the end of the day. People want to see fours and sixes being hit. However, if bowlers go in with a competitive attitude, they will succeed.

Nowadays, 400 plus runs get scored and chased in the one-dayers. The wickets are good. Seven-eight runs per over are scored regularly, so one can’t say that batsmen will dominate only in the twenty20 format.

As a spinner, I don’t think that I will stop flighting the ball. No batsman can hit all the deliveries thrown at him. On the other hand, since the batsman will have to be positive from the word go, the bowler will get every chance to dismiss him. Anybody who plays his cricket ‘positively’ will revel. ‘Negative cricketers’ will have no place here.

A domestic twenty20 tourney might become a success, but it completely depends on how the Board goes about it. All the ‘star cricketers’ have to be a part of it.

One good that will come out of this is that with this attractive package, television coverage will not be a problem, and if the matches are being televised, then an upcoming player has every chance of being noticed early. With the matches being of a short duration, crowds will also come in.

Twenty20’s introduction to Indian cricket is good, but its continuity will be decided after its ‘first year, first show.’

As a player, I feel it will be entertaining and challenging to play this version of the game. I remember having played a Twenty20 game in England five years back. I enjoyed it. You need to be skillfull, a good finisher and a good all-rounder to excel. I think my being an all-rounder would help. I have watched some Twenty20 games on television and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I don’t think professional cricketers would have any problem in adapting to Twenty20. You might see some unorthodox shots being played, but ultimately, a Sachin or a Rahul Dravid will sparkle in that set-up as well.