The T20 format is the most demanding one for the bowlers who are usually on a hiding to nothing and it gets even more difficult if he hasn’t played much cricket before that
India’s Arshdeep Singh, who had a highly forgettable game against Sri Lanka at Pune last Thursday. Pic/AFP
The domestic international season has begun with a couple of exciting T20 games. As of writing this, the third and final game is yet to be played, but Sri Lanka have already shown why they are the Asia Cup Champions in this format. They, of course, have had the advantage of travelling to India on the back of the recently concluded Lanka Premier League and so their players are match ready for this format both physically as well as mentally.
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Switching formats not easy
India, on the other hand, are coming into the series after a magnificent win in the longer format of the game. Sure, there is a change in personnel for the different formats, but it’s never easy to switch mentally from the red-ball format to the white-ball one and that too, the ultra-short one.
The T20 format is the most demanding one for the bowlers who are usually on a hiding to nothing and it gets even more difficult if the bowler hasn’t played much cricket before that. Poor Arshdeep Singh found that out as he just wasn’t able to get his run-up right and bowled no balls [at Pune], which are like manna from heaven as every overstepped delivery is penalised with a free hit next ball. The Lanka openers took full advantage of that and smashed fours and sixers off the free hit ball, and that didn’t help the Punjab pacer’s problems either.
Players being mollycoddled
Admittedly, there is more cricket being played than earlier, but the mollycoddling of the players has to be given another thought. These are young players who pride themselves on their fitness. To play for the country is the ultimate honour and in an environment where places in the Indian squad are tight, no youngster would like to be rested.
If the player who replaces him does well, then the rested player’s spot in the team is in jeopardy. With the talent pool that is there in Indian cricket currently, that is a real possibility and so not many youngsters would like being told to rest and not play. The BCCI also announced recently that they are bringing back the ‘yo yo’ test and some other test for the fitness levels mainly for the emerging players. A player could be reeling off centuries and double centuries or picking five and 10-wicket hauls while bowling heaps of overs, but if he can’t pass these tests, then he won’t be eligible for selection.
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