And So Sunil Gavaskar Was So Right!

India will ignore (Twenty20) at its own peril was the loaded observation by batting maestro and legend Sunil Gavaskar at the prize distribution function of the 2006-07 BCCI’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament at the Brabourne Stadium. The BCCI was reluctant then, but after nearly two decades it has been proved that Twenty20 has become the heartbeat of many cricket playing countries with the shortest format providing all the thrills and frills and entertainment aligned with skill packed in a span of a little over three hours. India, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni went on to win the inaugural World Cup in that format defeating Pakistan in the final at Durban. Two years ago Rohit Sharma steered another Indian team to win the ICC event for the second time at Bridgetown and now another team with Suryakumar Yadav as captain has presented itself an opportunity to vie for the title a third time. A few days ago the Indian team got past Pakistan in Colombo and entered the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and it will face South Africa, Zimbabwe and the West Indies for a place in the semi-final in Mumbai. Yadav’s team, the discerning believe, has the wherewithal to go the distance, but it’s a format the roll of the dice on all counts has to fall in its favour. Yadav has a fantastic winning percentage taking over captaincy from Rohit Sharma. The focus will be on him  and his team girding up its loins for a shot at the title, but it must be said after so many years that Gavaskar had hit the nail on its head 19 years ago and most importantly the BCCI did not ignore it!