Twenty20 Cricket – The Most Entertaining Cricket Format

T-20 cricket or generally it is called twenty20 cricket (20-20). It is the shortest format that ICC has introduced.

The main purpose of introducing this format is to develop an attacking mindset among players and foe entertain viewers.

This format is the most lovable format among all these formats because viewers see some power hitting some tremendous bowling performance in just 20-20 that is in 40 overs.

At the professional level, it was first introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition.

In a t20 competition, each team has the opportunity to play one inning having maximum over-limit twenty.

This format is much shorter as compared to the previous two formats. A t20 match usually ends in ninety minutes and having an innings break of 15 minutes.

A lot of franchise cricket is also organized in t20 format. Some major franchise tournaments are IPL the Indian Premier League, BBL the Big Bash League. Twenty20 cricket is claimed to have resulted in a more athletic and explosive form of cricket.

CONTENTS

1. History
2. Matches
3. Rules
4. Rankings
5. Conclusion
6. FAQs

HISTORY

ORIGIN OF THIS FORMAT

In 2001 some cricket experts noticed that the interest in cricket is gradually decreasing. For they thought that they have to make this game quite exciting.

So Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB that is England Cricket Board, proposed a 20 over per innings game to county chairmen in 2001 and they voted 11-7 in favor of introducing the new format.

The twenty20 match was played between Middlesex and Surrey at Lord’s Cricket ground on for any county game.

World cup History

As many twenty20 cricket matches were played at the business level, ICC planned to introduce another world cup tournament in the twenty20 format.

So the board committee decided that the world cup tournament should be held in 2007. As per the decisions, the first twenty20 cricket world cup was organized in South Africa.

All ODI teams participated in this tournament. Australia and India were the joint favorite team. India won the inaugural world twenty20 tournament by defeating Pakistan in a nail-biting final match.

MATCHES

International

Nowadays many international matches are also played in twenty20 format.

The first twenty20 international match was played between England and New Zealand women’s on 5th august 2004 and New Zealand women won that game by nine runes.

The first men’s twenty20 match was played between Australia and New Zealand on 17th February 2005 in Eden Park Auckland.

Most twenty20 international matches are bilateral. Sometimes a triangular series also happen in this format. ICC also introduced some WorldXI games in twenty20 format. That is the matches are played between the world’s best eleven with a particular nation.

Pakistan is the current table topper in twenty20 format. They showed complete dominance over the past few years.

Last world cup twenty20 was held in 2016 where West Indies won that final match by defeating England in a thrilling final match. Almost all remember that final over of Ben Stokes where Charlus Braithwade showed his class to the world. West Indies won this title two times which is currently highest by any team and England, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka won one time.

Domestic

Nowadays many countries have introduced a domestic level twenty20 format like team India has Sayad Mustak Ali trophy along with a franchise game IPL that is Indian Premier League. England team has county cricket. The Australian team has BIG Bash League, Pakisthan has Pakistan super league that is PSL and many more.

RULES

All the ICC Laws of cricket apply to this Twenty20 format with some exceptions and they are-

⦁ Each bowler may bowl a maximum of only 1/5th of the total overs per innings that is 20% of the total over. For a full, uninterrupted match, this is 4 overs.

⦁ If a bowler throws a no-ball by overstepping the crease, it costs 1 run and his next delivery is give a “free-hit”. In this circumstance the batsman can only be dismissed through a run-out, hitting the ball twice or obstructing the field.

⦁ The following fielding restrictions apply they are-

1)No more than five fielders can be on the leg side at any time.

2)During the first six overs, a maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30-yard circle (this is known as the powerplay).

3)After the first six overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.

⦁ If the fielding team does not start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra six runs for every whole over bowled after the 75-minute mark; the umpire may add more time to this if they believe the batting team is wasting time.

Also, some brief description is given below—

Five-run penalties – 

In Twenty20 cricket, an umpire may award one of the team’s five bonus runs if he feels the opposition is needlessly wasting time. This is designed to maintain the flow and pace of a Twenty20 match.

75-minute time limits – 

Bowling teams are forced to complete their 20 overs within 75 minutes (i.e. three minutes and 45 seconds per over). A bonus of six runs is given to the batting team if the bowling side has not begun its twentieth over before their 75 minutes is up.

Once again, this rule aims to maintain the rhythm and pace of the Twenty20 game.

Bowling restrictions of Twenty20 – 

In a move once more designed to favour the batting team, individual bowlers are only allowed to bowl for a total of four overs during a Twenty20 game. This obviously limits the damage that can be inflicted on the batting side by a single, in-form bowler.

The 90-second rule – 

Once a wicket has fallen in a Twenty20 match, the following batsman must take up his position at the wicket or bowler’s end within 90 seconds. If they are unable to do so, they could potentially be disqualified from batting in the match.

Fielding restrictions of Twenty20 – 

Twenty20 cricket laws only allow five fielders to stand on the leg side of the batsman at any one time. Similarly, only two fielders are allowed to stand outside of the inner circle in the first six overs of play. This number increases to five fielders in the remaining 14 overs.

These restrictions are designed to increase the flow of runs in a match, in order to create more of a spectacle for watching fans.

Bowl-outs – 

Akin to the penalty shootout in much other sport, bowl-outs take place at the end of tied Twenty20 matches. Five bowlers from each side are allowed to bowl twice at the wicket, with no batsman standing in its way. The team to topple the most wickets wins the game.

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RANKINGS

Team

POSITION	TEAM	RATING
1	Australia	278
2	England	268
3	India	266
4	Pakistan	260
5	South Africa	258
6	New Zealand	242
7	Sri Lanka	230
8	Bangladesh	229
9	West Indies	229
10	Afghanistan	228

BATSMAN

Rank	Player	Team	Rating
1	Babar Azam	Pak	879
2	Lokesh Rahul	IND	823
3	Aaron Finch	AUS	820
4	Colin Munro	NZ	785
5	Glenn Maxwell	AUS	721
6	Dawid Malan	ENG	718
7	Evin Lewis	WI	702
8	Hazratullah	AFG	692
9	Eoin Morgan	WI	687
10	Virat Kohli	IND	673

BOWLER

Rank	Player	Team	Rating
1	Rashid Khan	AFG	736
2	Mujeeb Ur Rahman	AFG	730
3	Adam Zampa	AUS	713
4	Ashton Agar	AUS	712
5	Tabraiz Shamsi	SA	681
6	Mitchell Santner	NZ	677
7	Imad Wasim	PAK	672
8	Adil Rashid	ENG	658
9	Shadab Khan	PAK	653
10	Chris Jordan	ENG	639

ALL-ROUNDER

Rank	Player	Team	Rating
1	Mohammad Nabi	AFG	294
2	Sean Williams	ZIM	213
3	Glenn Maxwell	AUS	204
4	Richard Berrington	SCO	194
5	Gareth Delany	IRE	170
6	Khawar Ali	OMA	159
7	Collins Obuya	KEN	153
8	Rohan Mustafa	UAE	152
9	Zeeshan Maqsood	OMA	135
10	Mahmudullah	BAN	135

Source:- ( ICC )

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the West Indies team is the most successful team in twenty20 format. Due to franchise cricket twenty20 cricket is going to be the most popular format.

FAQs