In Hindu mythology the dawn of Dvapara yuga marks the beginning of Kalyuga. The era where money and materialistic things dominate over the virtue of traditional bhakti and dharma. Metaphorically, the sunrise of 15th July 2004 marked the inception of a new era in World Cricket. The First-Ever T20 match was played between Surrey and Middlesex.
(SOURCE:indiatoday.in)
T20 Revolutionalised the way the game of cricket was played. It made the traditional 5 days long boring and grueling sport to a globalized money minting and glam sport with fireworks, bollywood, advertisements, and yearly contracts for the players. The rise of T20 Cricket paved the way for investors and cricket boards to make a business out of 22 yards. Following which the first-ever T20 world cup was played in 2007 in South Africa. India emerged as a champion by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in nail-biting finish. Since then the craze and love for T20 skyrocketed in the sub-continent which meant the rise of INDIAN PREMIERE LEAGUE (IPL).
(SOURCE:jagran josh)
IPL is a yearly extravaganza of cricket which was introduced in 2008 and is played in April -May every year since its inception. It is a treat for Indian viewers as it has everything from money, entertainment to fame. This directed towards the growth of BCCI (BOARD OF CRICKET CONTROL INDIA) as the most powerful cricket board even more influential than ICC (International Cricket Council) which regulates the world cricket. BCCI presently holds up to 20% of the world’s cricket revenue more than any country in the world cricket. The sheer will of BCCI can change the dynamics of world cricket. This can be illustrated by the present scenario BCCI proposed to conduct IPL (postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic) on September-October window which was reserved for WT20. This shows the double standards of BCCI, one side shows that being the most influential board it wants to globalize the sport, on the other hand in pursuit of money it is readily agreeing to replace IPL with marquee event like WT20.
WT20 is a event of utmost importance in cricket fraternity considering T20 can be used as a tool to globalize the sport which is presently limited to only a few commonwealth nations. This year 16 teams were supposed to be part of the mega event out of which 2 teams (Oman And Pappu New Guinea) had never before made to any ICC tournament before and it was a huge moment for the ambassadors of the game as cricket was slowly tracking up the pace in pursuit of being a global sport.
(SOURCE: CRICTACKER)
BCCI presently is waiting for ICC’s formal statement considering the fate of World T20. Brijesh Patel, Chairman of IPL Governing Council made his intentions clear. He stated that they are ready to mark the September – October window to conduct the IPL. This even means shifting the tournament to another country. Broadcaster stars too are on the same page as of BCCI. They’re stating that it does not matter where ever the tournament might be conducted. This is so because it would be virtually in front of empty crowds.
The decision now lies in the hands of ICC. But, if T20 World Cup Stands canceled it would be a big blow to non-test playing nations like PNG, Namibia and Oman.
