The ICC World T20 2016, a tournament that started off under
heavy criticism over being unfair to associates was already a huge success by
the time we came to its business end. Right
from hosting the tournament brilliantly, having nerve-wrecking finishes, the rise
of Afghans and giving a new lease of life to World T20 event itself, the tournament
and the game would not have asked for anything better. Here’s a list of 5 of
the biggest gains of the tournament that the game desperately needed.
#1: The Voice for and of the Associate Nations
To have a World T20 event to be a 10-nation tournament with
only 2 out of 8 associate member nations qualifying for the main event was
undoubtedly unfair and cruel to these associate nations. With 2019 50-over
world cup also being just an 8 nation tournament, discontent was rising among
the associate nations as they stepped into this event. Washout of games and the
need for the associates to play each game like a do or die match in qualifying
stage led to bitter comments and raising of voices from their captains and
players against the ICC regarding how difficult it is for these teams to play under
these unfair conditions. Scotland captain Mommsen’s question “how could I
improve my skills if I play just one international game in 1 year” was a simple
but an eye-opening question that aptly described how ICC treated the associates
and certainly deserved an answer. Along with their own voices, they were also
ably supported by the voices of fellow cricketers and the cricket fans.
Moreover, associate nations backed their voices with some brilliant, mature and
exuberant performances in the qualifying stage and also in the main draw, especially by Afghanistan. Let’s hope that ICC does better
in future for associate member nations and help cricket expand across its
conventional boundaries.
#2: Rise of Afghanistan
To put the disappointment behind of not being qualified for
Asia cup T20 that preceded the world T20 and then qualifying for the main event
under such grueling conditions in qualifying stage, is itself an achievement
for country like Afghanistan that has gone through lot of hardships for many
years now. But, playing in a World event is not for a weakened heart and
Afghanistan showed once again that they are strong and ready to take on the
world. They qualified for the main draw convincingly by winning all of their
three games against Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe. Afghanistan, playing in
their first three matches of the main draw, gave the scares to Sri Lanka, South
Africa and England. Against South Africa chasing 210, Afghanistan looked on
course at 105/3 in 10 overs, but unfortunately they stumbled. Again against
England, Afghans had the English on the mat at 57/6, but England escaped, defeating
Afghanistan just by 15 runs. And the victory that was evading Afghanistan
finally came against the Windies, the team that had won all of its three previous
matches. The conditions under which they won made the Afghan victory even sweeter.
They showed tremendous self-belief in getting to 123 from a precarious position
of 56/5 batting first and then they executed a lion-hearted effort in
restricting strong West Indies batting line up to 117. They managed to hold
their nerves and showed maturity as they defended just 10 runs in the last over
especially with hard-hitting Carlos Braithwaite at the crease. The most
important thing about Afghanistan that was even more highlighted in this World
T20 is that along with hard-hitting batsmen and strong bowlers, they have also
got a fearless attitude and an unprecedented passion for the game which will
help them go the long way at a much faster than all other associates. Players
like Mohammed Shahzad, Mohammed Nabi and skipper Asghar Stanikzai brought a
breath of fresh air that the tournament desperately needed.
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| Afghanistan: An Emerging nation in cricket |
#3: Fair Contest between bat & ball
Cricket is a contest between bat and a ball, right? Or it is
expected to be that way. But, what we saw in 2015 Cricket world cup down under
was hilarious for the game. Batting paradises, 5 fielders inside the 30-yard
circle led to many instances where batting totals swelled out of proportions
quite frequently than they used to be and bowlers looked clueless about what to
do, especially in death overs back then. So, to see bowlers being given a fair
chance was a refreshing change that we came across this World T20. The pitches
in Nagpur, Delhi and Dharamshala were quite conducive for bowling that helped
the bowlers and batsmen weren’t given any unfair advantage. Moreover, bowlers
from almost all the teams did their homework quite well, tried new variations and
restricted the batting teams to modest totals. The Yorkers that seemed to be
forgotten off-late got a new lease of life as bowlers used it quite effectively
to choke the batsmen in death overs. Overall, it was quite exciting to see
bowlers dictating their terms and as a cricket fan, it was enjoyable to see a
fair contest between bat and a ball rather than seeing a contest between two
batting units. The bowlers deserve the credit and the credit also goes to pitch
curators who produced sporting wickets, except the one in Mumbai which was a
belter of a wicket.
#4: Revival of World T20
The tournament’s history dates back to Sep 11, 2007, when the
inaugural match of the inaugural World T20 was played between West Indies and
South Africa at Johannesburg and the cricketing world was taken aback by the
whirlwind Gayle storm. T20 was relative new then and no one knew nothing about
it, an experiment worth gambling. But, that tournament was unexpectedly a huge success,
a format that caught the imagination of youth and people then started to take
T20 seriously. But as the time passed by, the tournament started to lose its
charm, the aura that surrounded it when it was first played and the world T20’s
hosted by England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh failed to promote the
fate of T20 internationals. By the time the event was played in Bangladesh in
2014, it seemed that the tournament is missing its x-factor, but this world
T20, the way it has been played, has changed it all. A fair contest between bat
and ball, some fabulous individual performances, nail-biting finishes, tough
competition between teams to qualify for semis, good quality cricket and a huge
crowd support has certainly revived the fortunes of World T20. Almost each and
every match went down to the wire and the edge of the seat thrilling contests have
been an exhibition not only to T20 format but to the game of cricket as a
whole.
#5: Calypso Kings The West Indies, can this victory lead
to their revival?
West Indies need 19 off the last over in the final, Carlos
Braithwaite is on strike and at the other end is Samuels, Stokes has a ball in
his hand, 6,6,6,6 and its West Indies, the champions of World T20, 2016. The
West Indies victory was the perfect icing on the cake for what was a fabulous
World T20. But the question remains, can this victory revive the fortunes of WI
cricket? Or will it be forgotten as the time passes by? Same thing happened four
years earlier when they won in Sri Lanka in 2012, but it didn’t change the
fortune of cricket in West Indies. When will the dispute between the board and
its players end? Can the board and their players be on the same page? Well these
questions are difficult to answer at the moment, but nonetheless due to this
World T20, at least all their team got together and played with full potential.
Gayle was back, so were Badree, Benn, Bravo. Darren Sammy is not a Clive Lloyd
and this victory is not going to revive the things in fortnight, but yes, this
victory gives the people back in the Caribbean the hope, the hope that WI cricket
will be revived and the feeling that WI can play back to its full potential
even in Tests and ODI’s. This victory will also push the WI cricket board to
think about resolving the issues with the players and the policies about them.
This victory will certainly inspire the budding cricketers in WI to take the
game seriously and who knows, keep your fingers crossed, if everything works
out well, we can get a good West Indies team playing at its full potential
across all the three formats in near future.  |
| We're the Champions: West Indies win ICC World T20, 2016 |
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