Class is Forever

I came, I saw and I conquered. This is what the cricket's new favorite version T20 has stated blatantly to its other long established predecessor, the ODI. It just took one tournament in South Africa to turn the tide and the tournament couldn't ask for anything as a boost to the abridged version apart from a win by the cricketing stalwart, India back in 2007. Popularity sky-rocketed and India cashed upon the chance and gave birth to club-rivalry in cricket for the first time in the form of IPL and thus comes to an end the story of the conquest and rise of power of the new emperor, the T20. Money, glamour and most importantly fresh talent from all parts of the nation had one common platform to perform. All of a sudden cricket has been reduced to power hitting and ball-bashing. The biggest player of the day was to be the golden LUCK from now. Classical Dravid cover drives, Elegant Ganguly sixes and Godly Sachin straight drives now paved way to Deadly Yuvraj pulls and Mighty Yusuf out-of-the-park hits.

It has been almost a year that the prime team members of the Indian team has been involved in T20 format and the sudden ODI series of West Indies seemed to be a little out of place Who would sit for 7 hours to know the result? Why should the 20-40 overs be bowled when its mostly run-a-ball? Though these queries repeatedly forced me to turn the TV off, the love of the game kept me glued to it for the entire match. Though T20 has dethroned ODI of it's popularity, it still has its own importance and style. Nevertheless this comparison seems similar to the one made between tests and ODIs when the 50/60-over format was initially introduced. Mere physical strength was not enough. ODIs are not all about deadly and mighty pulls. Most of the Indian players don't have the ODI experience. No footwork, no patience, no technique. All these were evident from the recently concluded series. Though India won the series, I think T20 has taken a huge toll on the talent regarding ODIs.

Ever since India has won the 2007 T20 World Cup, it has been under pressure much before the 2011 ODI World Cup. Keeping in view the ODI World Cup, the team needs more practice in this format rather than the slam-bang version. T20 cannot be the learning platform to perform in an ODI. Can we have another Dravid or Sachin? Class has it's say in any sport and it was evident by the inclusion of the Wall, Dravid for the Champions Trophy. Footwork and technique develops over a period and Indians need many more ODIs to be prepared for the World Cup. Bowlers need to cope up with the fatigue level of ODIs too. Does Ishanth know what's it to bowl 10 overs each, over a period of nearly a month every alternate day under pressure? I can hear him say NO. We all know what happens in this nation if Indians perish early in the WC. If the Indians need to avoid the calamity and to regain lost glory in ODIs it's high time that Rohit Sharmas, Suresh Rainas and Isanth Sharmas be developed into ODI specialists rather than mere T20 biggies.

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