Perfect T 20 Series
The recently concluded Twenty 20 Series between India and Sri Lanka is a perfect example of how a Twenty 20 Series should be played. There was perfection in almost every aspect of the game. The pitches were perfect for batting and the batsmen too played their part to perfection. The format itself was devised to provide entertainment to fans and that is exactly what the series provided. In the past there were T20 tournaments like the second version of IPL, where one team used to score 125 and other used to huff and puff their victory and the paying public and millions of viewers felt cheated watching these matches Fortunately the organizers seem to have learnt from their mistakes and provided the right pitches for entertaining cricket.
In the four innings that were played in the 2 Match Series, 3 of them produced scores in excess of 200. The lowest score in the entire series was 186 for 9 posted by India in the first match and that itself is an indication of how entertaining the batting was. The series saw 818 runs scored in 79.1 overs at a run rate of 10.33 per over. It was a run feast for the fans as an average innings produced 207 runs. People come to see fours and sixes in a Twenty 20 Match and that is what exactly the series provided. Cricket was at its entertaining best as batsmen belted 82 boundaries and as many as 27 sixes. The bowlers too had a good series picking as many as 25 wickets an an average of 32.72 runs per wicket.
Once again India's batting might came to the fore and won a match for them which was almost lost by the bowlers. Yuvraj Singh could not have asked for a better birthday present by giving an exceptional all round performance. YuvrajSings feat of 3 wickets of 3 overs for 23 runs and unbeaten 60 of 25 deliveries was exceptional to say the least and his achievement would have been difficult for the best ever all rounders in the history of cricket to replicate. Yuvraj Singh not only is Indias No.1 All roudner at the moment, but among the top all rounders in world cricket. Muthiah Muralidharan must consider himself extremely fortunate to be injured because with the type of form Indian batsman were in form during the series he too would have been clouted for sixes and fours like any other Sri Lankan bowlers. The batting of Gambhir and Yuvraj in the first and second matches has been exceptional. Yuvraj's blistering innings would have destroyed the confidence of any bowlers in the world and Muralidharan must consider himself lucky as he would be playing the one day series with some sort of confidence because had he got belted by Yuvraj in the T20 series, in the same way he got belted by Sehwag in the Test Series, then there was worse in store for him and Sri Lanka in the one day series.
While India has enjoyed huge sucess lately in all formats of the game especially in Tests and One Dayers, bowling is their biggest concern. Ashish Nehras economy rate in the series was 13.71 per over is a serious cause of concern. Others did not perform well either with Ojha going at 13.5 per over, Yusuf Pathan 11.85 per over, Dinda 11.33 per over, Tyagi 10.5 over and Ishant Sharma 8.00 runs per over. The reason for Indias weakness in bowling not coming to the fore is due to the fact that the batting has always bailed them out either by posting huge totals or by chasing down huge targets as was the case in second T20 match. Another area of concern with regard to bowlers, they cannot bat when required and they cannot field either. It is time for India to address this issue because once the batting fails India will be really tested.
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