Twenty-20 Cricket, the Right way to Spread Cricket?

There was a time when state associations across India would look forward eagerly to host Test matches. India playing a five-day match in whites in front of packed stands would be a dream-come-true for most grounds. A Sunil Gavaskar double-hundred, a Kapil Dev fifer or a swashbuckling century by Sachin Tendulkar would mean the stadium would have created a slot in history forever.

Those were the aspirations of cricket grounds not just in India, but the world over. To achieve the status of Lord's or the Eden Gardens, you had to have plenty of Test matches up your sleeves. Not anymore. Times have changed. And they have changed drastically over the last decade, with the advent and consequent boom of T20 cricket. These days, the lure is to host the shortest format of the game - even if it is an IPL game and not a T20 international, packed houses are guaranteed. That's not really the case for Test cricket anymore.

Take a simple case in point. The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur is one of the four venues for the 2014 Champions League Twenty20. The ground, established in 2008, has never hosted an international game, leave alone a Test or an ODI. The only time it hosted an international team was when Canada played Chattisgargh in a one-day match in November 2010. Besides, the Veer Narayan Singh Stadium was the home ground for the Delhi Daredevils in IPL last year. Yet, it finds itself clubbed with three other venues (M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh and Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad) that have proven Test and international credentials.

In fact, the Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad hosted its first Test match a full six years after it was established. The ground got its first ODI in 2005 and was home to the Deccan Chargers in 2008, the first year of the IPL. The venue also hosted the final of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 between New South Wales and Trinidad & Tobago in 2009. Most T20 games in Hyderabad have so far seen packed houses, and the excellent all-round conditions there, including a sporting pitch, have put the stadium right up there on the international map.

It is no rocket science then. Modern day cricket grounds get their baptism by the fire of limited overs cricket. Test matches come later, only once the quality of pitches and attractive crowd attendance have been assured. Some of the most exciting new stadia across the world have also taken the same route.

The Rose Bowl in England, hosted its first ODI in 2003, had its first T20 International in 2005 and got its first Test match in 2011, 10 years after being established in 2001. By the time England took on Sri Lanka for the first Test in Southampton, the Rose Bowl had already earned the reputation of a fine international cricket ground, with modern facilities for players, fans and the media. T20 cricket has indeed become the buzzword for most states, counties and provinces across world cricket. Good, capacity crowds and equal assistance for batsmen and bowlers ensure Test matches sooner than later.

T20 cricket is the way ahead in the modern game. It has become the modus operandi to spread the game far and beyond and fans love to lap up the format in their small, non-descript towns, in new, plush stadia. The Champions League Twenty20 could do wonders for the over 50,000 seater Raipur ground and the immense media coverage could do a world of good for the Chattisgarh state.