The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

Since its inception in the early 2000s, T20 cricket can be argued to be the most common form of cricket played on the cricketing calendar. It’s not the best format, but the most played. As a result of the rise in popularity of this format, ODI cricket has been on the receiving end; it’s hardly played these days.

Being the cricketing purist that I am, I will argue too and nail that Test cricket is the lifeblood of the game, but there aren’t many, I feel, who harbour the same feelings; maybe I am showing my age.

Putting that conversation aside, I will get back to the conversation I initially wanted to start, the death of T20 cricket. Yes, I said what I said. It’s taking over the world, but the best format (in most people’s opinion) is at the tipping point; it’s going to struggle to survive soon.

Why? The reason is simple: T20 is seen in the cricketing community as a good thing, but there’s too much of a good thing going on at present. I am of Pakistani Origin, so I want to put a disclaimer out there: what I will say next isn’t biased, but I believe it is a grounded, impartial opinion.

The PSL is better than the IPL. Let me repeat, the IPL is the more prestigious League, but the PSL has the more entertaining factor. The big players are going to India and getting rewarded with the big bucks, but even the players who haven’t gone to India are of good calibre.

Ashton Turner, David Warner, and Marnus Labuschagne are respected names in the game. The IPL can reel off more names, but the fact that it’s so long, for me, just makes me inclined to lose interest.

The T20 tournaments aren’t football seasons, so don’t make them like that. the Pakistan Super League and Indian Premier League are being played at the same time.

This is why the death of T20 is nearer than you think. The powers that be in the IPL must have got an indication from sponsors that more is better, but think about the fans!

In years gone by, what made T20 tournaments special was that the schedules never clashed. In this edition of the PSL and IPL, they’re clashing directly. The IPL will win the ratings war, but they could have had more viewers; someone (not sure who) thought, Let’s make them start at the same time.

How can the game grow if audiences are not fully into the product? The money still keeps rolling in for the T20 tournaments, such is the concept, but making the audience have to choose one franchise over the other is not a good idea. The BBL, back in the day, would start and finish, and then the PSL would start and then finish and so on.

The way it should be, no?