I do like T-20

I have always felt that I will be the last person to take to T-20 Cricket. I am a die hard fan of Test Match Cricket and one day cricket had never held a fascination for me.

But IPL has changed everything. Initially I thought it will be a sham, more of a festive match than serious stuff and essentially a slam bang thank you very much kind of game. But the intensity shown by the teams surprised me and the first week of IPL was really competitive. That is what sports is all about - being competitive.

The biggest gain was that I was able to sit back and watch a match without getting emotionally involved as in the case of India playing. There is no nationalistic jingoism and no sadness when one's team loses. It is just a good game of cricket that can be enjoyed.

It has not always been about batsmen so far. Warne turned the match on its head the other day with 3 for 17, showing that a great player is great in any form of cricket. Mohammed Asif has been his measly self. The slam bang batsmen have all failed to live up to the expectation. It is those who play correct cricket who have scored runs - Mike Hussey, Shane Watson, Rohit Sharma, Mathew Hayden, Sehwag. Compare this with the failures Gilchrist, Symonds, Afridi, Bravo, Jayasurya.

After a long long time, the Indian second string is getting a chance to test their skills not only against the top Indian Test Players but against some of the best players in the world. This can only do them world of good. Badri, Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Gony, Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Raina have distinguished.

Isn't is strange to see that Cricket, with its staid English moorings, has been the most innovative of the Sports of late. During the past 3 decades Cricket has evolved from Test Cricket alone to One day Cricket, coloured clothing, white balls, playing under lights to T-20 now. Compare this with other games who have hardly changed - Football has refused to innovate. Same is the case with Basketball. Volleyball just tinkered with the scoring, likewise Badminton and Table Tennis.

Cricket has demonstrated why it is necessary to have periodic product innovation. Now they have a nice product mix. Hats off to the Administrators