The day modern cricket changed | #126

Also, when the Indian govt made a soft drink 👉👉

Oct 15, 2022

Mitron,

You may not realize it yet, but a cricket World Cup is around. It’s hard to imagine that international T20 started out as a bit of a fun exercise. Australia took on their neighbours New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland. Though an international game in name, it was played with the air of an exhibition game, with the New Zealand players sporting fake wigs and moustaches and Glenn McGrath bowling a ball underarm, for which the umpire Billy Bowden showed him a red card.

The pioneers who played the first ever T20 international

The 8th edition of the T20 World Cup starts tomorrow and will feature 16 teams taking part down under. This World Cup will see the return of Zimbabwe and a first time participant in the United Arab Emirates.

But this week, we talk a bit about the T20 world cup that changed it all - the first edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007.

Things we learnt this week 🤓

In the first T20 world cup, India and Pakistan were in the same group and played out a thrilling tie. The match would be resolved using a bowl out a la penalty shootout in football - one bowler from each side would take turns to run in and hit the stumps. Simple. India used Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and the bowling stalwart Robin Uthappa for their bowl out and emerged victorious 3-0. This also gave the early hints of the genius in MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Instead of standing in his usual stance behind the stumps, he knelt down and asked his bowlers to aim at his chest. Dhoni is a true Kneel Diamond.

Talking of the 2007 World Cup, India were unfancied as they played a grand total of ONE T20 game before the World Cup began. They emerged winners in a tense final and some say cricket changed that day. The Indian team was accorded an open-top bus parade in Mumbai after landing. The cavalry halted for a few minutes at Peddar Road. This was for Lata Mangeshkar to wave to the victorious cricketers in jubilation. Lata ji and Indian cricket share an interesting relationship, which we will talk about later. You don’t want to miss this!

The 2007 World Cup ushered in a revolution in the game. It fast tracked the formation of the Indian Premier League. But Lalit Modi’s idea of the league was not a new one. He had in fact proposed the formation of a league for ODI cricket way back in 1996 as an individual consultant to the BCCI. He had registered a company called Indian Cricket League Limited to help with his proposal. The BCCI did not take his ideas seriously. Lalit Modi was determined to join the BCCI and eventually became the representative of the Rajasthan Cricket Board. There is a Netflix show here somewhere.
The most enduring memory of the T20 World Cup is this knock knock joke

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Misbah
Misbah who?
Misbah five runs