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SPORTS JULY 23, 2021 | The Indian Eye 46

Structured Chaos Paves Way

for Cricket’s Changing landscape

tions is the 13-team ODI Super
n the last month, New Zea- League that feeds into the ODI
land defeated India to lift the
Iinaugural World Test Cham- World Cup qualification system.
pionship. South Africa swept the Every ODI series is a 3-match
Test series and won the T20I se- affair, and every team plays 24
ries 3-2 against the West Indies, matches. This is already a win
for the likes of Ireland, Zimba-
who themselves blew Australia bwe, Afghanistan, and the Neth-
out of the park in a T20I series. erlands, getting opportunities to
Ireland emerged victorious
in an ODI match against South compete against the top teams
Africa, and a last-minute En- consistently.
gland squad whitewashed a full- These systems are only in
strength Pakistan team 3-0. their infancy, and by the time the
structure is robust, cricket will be
embrace the uncertainty BroKeN CriCKet DreaMs at a better place.

If you tried predicting all the Looking forward
series above, you would have NITESH MATHUR
surely missed a few. Cricket’s to the 2020s
landscape is changing. A vast www.brokencricketdreams.com The 2000s was a wonderful
transformation is taking place. era for cricket—a collision of
No single team is unbeatable, In the next decade, 5 WTC 104 nations in 2018. It was the generations. ODI cricket was
and no team can be taken light- Finals, 6 T20I World Cups, 3 right step in “globalizing the at its peak, Test cricket was still
ly. Case and point—Sri Lanka. ODI World Cups, and 2 Cham- game” by ensuring standardiza- prospering, and the Sehwags &
Transition phase, lackluster, pions Trophies will provide am- tion in terms of grounds, um- Gayles provided us a glimpse
downfall, “where are the glory ple opportunity for new winners. piring, code of conduct, and a into T20 future.
days gone?”—call them any- vigorous T20I World Cup qual- The 2010s saw each team go-
thing, but they are the only Asian iCC has gotten ification structure. ing through massive transition
side to win a Test series in South something right For Test cricket, the World eras. Home advantage in Test
Africa and that too in 2019. The ICC has made a few de- Test Championship was in- cricket killed any semblance of
In the current ODI Super cent decisions recently—push- stalled. It has numerous flaws, competition, and the overkill of
League, Ireland have blown hot ing for cricket in the Olympics, but the fact that spectators were T20 cricket questioned cricket’s
and cold. They have convincing- extending future World Cups to critical of the points table, a re- existence at the core. After years
ly beaten South Africa & current include more Associate nations cord number watched the finals, of upheaval, cricket has finally
ODI World Cup holders, En- (14-team ODI WC, 20-team T20I and captains took it seriously turned a corner.
gland. However, they lost to the WC), and most importantly, by show that the ICC have succeed- T20 cricket is at its pinna-
UAE (1-1), Afghanistan (0-3), providing much needed structure. ed at some level in contextualiz- cle with each nation possessing
and the Netherlands (1-2). The first great thing ICC did ing Test cricket. a stable league. Brathwaite’s
was granting T20I status to all The best of these innova- Remember the Name moment
New winners, New stories gave T20Is its unique image and
Due to the influx of ICC tour- Yet since the 2013 Champions trophy, a different with the T20 World Cups com-
naments (almost one every year winner has conquered each iCC trophy. ing up, bilateral T20Is are being
now), there is a higher probabil- followed closely. McCullum’s
ity of multiple teams claiming a • 2013 Champions Trophy : India New Zealand and Morgan’s
world title. England changed the way ODI
Gone are the days of the 1980s • 2014 T20 World Cup : Sri Lanka cricket was played. The 2019
West Indies and 2000s Australia. World Cup final, 2019 Ashes,
South Africa (till 2015) and In- • 2015 ODI World Cup : Australia and the Border-Gavaskar Tro-
dia been at the top over the last • 2016 T20 World Cup : West Indies phy have created a new genera-
decade without putting their tion of cricket fans. Changes will
stamp of authority. West Indies • 2017 Champions Trophy : Pakistan continue, one team will no lon-
have dominated T20I WCs, En- ger dominate, and that is only
gland have changed ODI crick- • 2019 ODI World Cup : England a good thing. World cricket has
et, and New Zealand have been • 2021 World Test Championship : New Zealand survived its chaotic phase and
a constant force. has come out for the better.

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