Balvinder Sandhu felt T20 crickets after-effects are equally detrimental in the development of cricket.
Balvinder Singh Sandhu. File pic
Chris Morris’s whirlwind unbeaten 36 to help Rajasthan Royals snatch a win from the jaws of defeat against Delhi Capitals or leggie Rahul Chahar’s three wickets in-an-over to turn the tide in Mumbai Indians’ favour against Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League (IPL), Season 14, will throw up many such performances like in the past. But they should not become the yardstick to make cricketing heroes, opined India’s 1983 World Cup-winning team member Balvinder Singh Sandhu.
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The former India seamer felt flat pitches have become a norm in T20 cricket to satisfy the broadcaster. “Almost all matches are going into the final over. If the pitches were bad, the matches would have ended early. It means T20 cricket is driven by television [broadcaster]. So, television is forcing us to prepare flat pitches in T20 cricket. If 40 overs are not played in a T20 match, then there is a loss of revenue and TRPs as well,” Sandhu told mid-day.
“The spectators for the T20 match are also such that they want to see only fours and sixes. Some fantastic catches are also taken. So, it’s not an intelligent audience, they are masala audience...thumka lagane waali audience,” he added.
Sandhu, however, acknowledged the revenue boom in Indian cricket is especially due to the advent of the T20 format. “T20 cricket is getting revenue for the board. And it is helping the BCCI build infrastructure, provide top-class facilities even to the age group cricketers and helping former cricketers with pension, one-time benefit payments and medical expenses as they played the game when there was hardly any money in it. So, the money is trickling to all the stakeholders of the game,” Sandhu noted.
Sandhu compared T20 cricket to fast food. “My point is people don’t remember what happened in the last IPL. But what Washington Sundar or Rishabh Pant did in Australia during the Test series win will be remembered for the next 25 to 30 years.
“My 1983 World Cup delivery [in the final to dismiss Gordon Greenidge] is talked about even today. Kapil Dev’s breathtaking catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards is still fresh in people’s minds. But what happened in the last IPL, people don’t remember. So, T20 cricket is like fast food. Today you had bhel puri, tomorrow we will have pani puri,” said Sandhu.
He felt T20 cricket’s after effects are equally detrimental in the development of cricket. “No doubt it [T20 cricket] brings a lot of revenue to the board and popularises the game, but it also has its after effects. It is harming junior cricket to a great extent. In T20 cricket, even a great player like Sachin Tendulkar can get out playing a rash shot and an ordinary batsman also gets out playing a bad shot, so how do you differentiate whether he is a tailender or a great player like Sachin?
“T20 cricket is not the yardstick for making cricket heroes. It is like Govinda movies. You get entertained for those two to three hours and then just forget it. There is no content in Govinda or Salman Khan movies. Yes, there is revenue but no content. So, let T20 cricket go on. Consider it [T20 cricket] as an item song, which is used to spice up the movie,” he concluded.
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