melroy88
Melroy Lopes
Twenty overs, berserk batting, a kitty full of 413 runs in three hours flat, glam cheerleaders -- for cricket fanatics, Tuesday signaled the arrival of instant cricket. Known as the Twenty20 World Cup, the cricketing fest at Johannesburg is supposed to herald new beginnings as the gentleman's game becomes tighter, racier and more gripping. Promised to give a nail-biting finish more edgy than the regular ODI, this instant form of cricket also means more matches and more visibility for players. However, for traditional cricketing buffs, this means the end of good old ODIs that spanned over 50 overs and ensured a fulfilling cricketing experience of five to six hours on field and longer off it. And let us not forget that the regular ODI has only just managed to shake off the tag of "pretender" in the eyes of the more conservative, for who nothing short of five days of play can be true competitive international cricket. And they will no doubt ask: what next? Book cricket? Is Twenty20 a mere fad, or is it here to stay as the form of the game that will endure the onslaught of a shorter public recall and the need for the instant? Is 20-20 going to be the new face of cricket?