Bowlers rule in batsman's game

UMPIRE'S POST

This World Cup is turning out to be completely different from what its detractors feared it would be.

Last Wednesday, England scored at 10 an over, had four wickets in hand at the end of its quota of overs, and yet lost the game to India. This can only happen in Twenty20. And yet they call it a batsman's game!

This World Cup is demolishing all pre-conceived notions, such as the one that this format will be little more than lining up the bowlers before the firing squad.

That notion, combined with the early mauling of Pollock, Bond, and Lee, has actually come to the rescue of bowlers. The expectation from them has fallen sharply, making us liberal in judging their performance.

In the Test match era, which lasted till the 1980s, when bowlers dominated the game, two wickets for 90 in 30 overs could not guarantee you a place in the next game. In the ODI era, two for 30 in 10 would ensure your selection in at least four games. In the Twenty20 era, which is surely starting now, two wickets for 12 in four is phenomenal. It would still be impressive even if you conceded twice as many runs and then some more.

The batsmen, on the other hand, are going uphill all the time. And the climb is getting steeper as this World Cup progresses. In the Test match era, 270 in a day of batting "" three an over "" was fine. In the ODI age, this nearly always resulted in defeat. To get a seemingly winning score, say 300, the required run rate was double that: six an over, or a run a ball. In the Twenty20 era, you need twice that, or two runs off every delivery. And if you fail to score off the first two balls of an over, you'd better get three off each of the remaining.

That means no time to get your eye in. Any batsman will tell you that that calls for a very high degree of preparedness, self-belief and expertise.

That dismantles yet another, perhaps the most crucial, pre-conceived notion about Twenty20, that this is not a true test of skill. If anything, this is a sterner test of skill than either of the other two formats.

No surprises then that Jayasuriya, Sehwag, Vettori, McMillan and Kemp are winning matches. Chris Gayle hit the first century, Brett Lee claimed the first hat-trick. As for Yuvraj, he has been a match winner for some time. The players doing well in Twenty20 are those whose ability has already been proved beyond all reasonable doubt. Now, if only it had caught on a few years ago, when Sachin, Lara, Akram, Inzamam, Ganguly, McGrath and Warne were in their prime!