Overdose?

There already is lot of cricket around. One team or the other plays an international match every day of the year. If you take out some of the inconsequential games or the minnows' matches, there would be around 200 playing days. And add to it, the new bee IPL and you have a congested calendar.

Indian market is such an overwhelming one for ICC. The TV channels and the viewership issues control the ICC's coffers and the Indian market decides the issue for the channels. How otherwise could you explain the Indian matches in the world cup starting at a more convenient 7 PM?

Indians are bombarded with enough cricket. We already play the maximum number of ODIs. Add to it the recent thrust of tests to protect our Numero Uno ranking and the dose of domestic T20, we have our eyes full...

Is the average enthusiast complaining? Well..not yet. But, the adage the more the merrier doesn't fit this. The threshold is on the anvil and it would not be long before the viewer gets bored with the overdose. But for now....carribean calls!

T20 - pleasure or pressure?

IPL has opened up too many discussion topics...freelance cricketers, separate window for IPL etc. But one issue that always has been at the forefront, ever since T20 came into existence...Is T20 the pleasure version or the pressure version?

We often hear cricketers saying that they enjoy playing out there and try to take things easy. I very much doubt it. Because, what with the intensity in the middle plus the pressure to perform or perish, more often than not cricketers are under pressure.

T20 was supposed to be the pleasure version of the game. This shortest version is a pure treat for the tv viewers and spectators alike, however, is it so for the players? May well not be the case...

Test matches are won or lost in a session. There is pressure in a test match to not lose an upper hand in a session lest you shall be playing catch up. One-day Internationals are won or lost in a passages of play. Initial 20 or the middle overs or the slog overs determine the result of the match. And when it comes to T20, it boils down to every over, if not every delivery. We have seen how a big over or a maiden over or even a couple of dot balls have changed the complexion of the game.

What does this mean? The intensity is so huge that what feels like pleasure for you and me is doubly pressurizing for the players in the middle. That could well be the reason why we see seemingly simple mistakes from the players. T20 isn't about power plays...it's about pressure plays!