Cricket 2.0

A news of IPL is just out that talks about the "One Over Eliminator" taking over the "Bowl Out" feature of IPL. Find out about this new feature for tied matches, as you read ahead.

The world of Cricket is no different from any other industry of the world. Even here, we have newer trends coming in everyday, with newer ways of serving the target segment.

At first, there were Test matches - the orthodox, real game of cricket. 5 days in the field, and a battle across 4 innings to have a possible winner.

With time, the spectators got more demanding - they wanted faster results and matches to be more exciting, as Test matches often ended in draws. This brought in the concept of LOIs (Limited Overs International) with a fixed number of overs per side (60). Seeing that this concept was emerging fast, Test matches sort of took second place. And with time, the number of overs became 50 a side.

Superior technology finally brought in the concept of a 3rd umpire, which made run out decisions more acceptable.

After this, things stabilized quite a bit. But everywhere around, new innovations were being tried. The strongest of these innovations was the Twenty20 concept. And with time, it also took part of the centre stage. There was an ICC World Cup for Twenty20 (obviously won by the best team, beating their arch rivals ;-) ) This led to a newer concept - IPL.

IPL has been ICC's baby. They have promoted it extensively, and kept innovating with it as well. With IPL, the focus is clearly shifting from hard core sports to entertainment. The "product" Cricket is now "packaged" for entertainment. This can of course have its own advantages and disadvantages.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the rate of innovation in IPL, like the No-ball rule which now includes a Free Hit. And now they have come up with the latest change in the next version of IPL - they have pushed out the concept of Bowl Out, and introduced the One over Eliminator. This would be like a Tie-Breaker, where each side gets one over to show their worth. They have to select 3 batsmen and 1 bowler form their team. If the team loses 2 wickets, then the team is "All out". Also, if the 2 teams are tied at the end of this contest, then the team that has hit the maximum number of sixes in their innings would win. If that too is same, then it would be the maximum number of fours that decides the winner.

How are they able to bring in such rules? First of all, because it isn't nations fighting against each other, it is just power performers. So, the spectator enjoys watching good shots from both teams, good bowling from both teams, and rarely goes back really disappointed with who has actually won the contest. Though it is difficult to generate that passion as a country against country match would bring in, it is well substituted with entertainment, and it is exactly as long as it should be. For example, if you have 3 hours to spare and nothing to do, you know you can use this as a source of entertainment if it is happening.

And that is why I call this version of Cricket as Cricket 2.0 - it reaches new boundaries at new levels and offers a lot of entertainment, without asking you to invest too much.

Is this the way ahead? Can IPL replace One Day Internationals (ODIs) and test matches? Do you like the packaging that IPL brings to cricket? Do write your comments on the Wall!