It was just 2 months back when Sunrisers Hyderabad recorded the highest T20 score, 287 in 20 overs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. T20 cricket’s landscape they said, was changing every minute. The “modern” T20 game was much different from 5 years ago. Now it was quite aggressive and batsman-friendly. So how did the game flip again? How did the norm of scoring 200+ runs go down to scoring 120 and still being able to defend it in the ongoing T20 World Cup? Well, there are two primary reasons.
Firstly. the quality of pitches in the USA, especially in Nassau Cricket Stadium, Long Island, New York. To understand why no team has gone past even 137 at the Nassau stadium one needs to understand the concept of drop-in pitches. A drop-in pitch is a 22-yard cricket strip prepared in a steel tray off-site, often at a turf farm, under favourable conditions. It includes layers of soil, clay, and grass, and is maintained like a traditional pitch once installed. A total of 10 pitches were prepared in Adelaide which then travelled across the planet to be laid in New York. In the case of the 4 pitches laid down at the Nassau Stadium, they have been observed to get uneven bounce and even sometimes hold up the ball unexpectedly. Most of the matches being held during the day means that on top of the uneven bounce and speed, the ball tends to swing more often, also thanks to the rather open stadium structure. This has made the life of batsmen in the middle much more difficult than their life on batting-friendly pitches in India.
Secondly, the Impact Player rule is only limited to franchise cricket. It hasn’t been introduced into the International stage and many would say that’s the blessing. Batting freely up top has become much easier for the batsmen in the last couple of years. That’s because they are aware that even if they gamble on their wicket and lose it cheaply, the team has an extra batter coming in at number 7-8 who will make up for their mistake. Many players have spoken against the rule with some saying it should be completely abolished while others suggesting that it should be changed to make it fairer on the bowlers.
While these two are primary reasons for the sudden change in the way T20 cricket is now being played. Another one is the fact that this is an ICC T20 World Cup. The stakes on each wicket, at every ball, are higher than ever before. For most batsmen, the instinct in important matches is to play a conservative game. But at the same time, the modern T20 batsman inside them urges them to take risks and take the attack to the opposition. The best example of this would be Virat Kohli. All 4 of his dismissals in the World Cup have been off-attacking shots. A case when his instinct goes against the way he should have played.
This is just one example, out of many. And so, with the onset of the T20 World Cup, the landscape of T20 Cricket has changed yet again. And to those who aren’t exactly enjoying the cricket being played or are disappointed in the World Cup. Sorry to say, but you have become accustomed to the IPL way of cricket. Where scoring 200+ has become the norm. Where bowlers cannot compete with the batsmen anymore. Not fairly at least. The constant back and forth between the bowler and the batter is what makes this sport special. And this T20 World Cup has been providing fans with many such instances.
