I believe many people were surprised by an England-West Indies men’s final in the ICC World T20. I wasn’t. England have radically restructured their cricket in the past year, and the West Indies have always been excellent in this version of the game.
However, this World Cup was about far more than just the magnificent final, of course. A lot of it was about raw power and the ability to withstand immense pressure, as T20 is supposed to be, but a lot of it also had to do with finesse and technique.
Across teams, the best T20 players are also among the best Test cricketers, so the apprehension among purists about the supposed negative impact of T20 on traditional cricketing skills can finally be laid to rest.
Even a reputed T20 ‘specialist’ like Chris Gayle, for all his savage hitting, swings through the line of the ball, producing authentic cricketing shots that are firmly rooted in technique. Or take Virat Kohli, who is classy, has impeccable technique, and rarely, if ever, plays ugly. I think that is vastly encouraging for cricket as a whole.
The bowlers have evolved, too, adapting their styles and techniques to suit a format that was not supposed to have offered them much support. That is particularly true of the spinners. The way the likes of Samuel Badree and Ravichandran Ashwin outsmarted the batsmen, taking wickets when needed or simply keeping them quiet, offers hope for a whole new generation of spinners.
That apart, as England showed, bowlers like Ben Stokes, Joe Root, or David Willey are worth their weight in gold.
Winning fans
This tournament has also done much to garner a huge number of new cricket fans. It can now be said without question that T20 is the most entertaining form of cricket on view, and fans have enjoyed such diverse offerings as young Carlos Braithwaite’s flawless performance in the face of killing pressure, Darren Sammy’s outstanding captaincy at a difficult time, tight matches such as the ones between West Indies and South Africa, or India and Bangladesh, and the spirited show put up by the so-called minnows, specifically Afghanistan.
That brings up the long-standing question of how the ICC’s associate members can fit into the bigger picture. It goes without saying that they cannot make significant improvements unless they play the bigger teams, and the only way cricket can grow is by including hitherto ‘smaller’ teams in global tournaments like the World Cup. Yes, there needs to be a balance, and some form of quality control, of course, but the only way forward is to make the game as inclusive as possible.
— Gameplan
