There was a time when the 5-day variety of cricket was the monarch of all it surveyed…but it appeared that cricket lovers were getting impatient with this lengthy and at times monotonous game which most often ended in a tame draw. Then came the 50 over one day internationals (ODI), which became immensely popular in a couple of years. It also saw the advent of one day specialists and master blasters. But the popularity of the game was fully exploited by the speculators who saw the game as a money spinner and certain teams began to dance to their tunes. Match fixing is an offshoot of commercialization. Some star players became star performers in the ad world too. Commercialization got a new boost with the introduction of Twenty-20.
As far as India is concerned the Twenty-20 version opened the flood gates for the up and coming youngsters. But the future of the game lies in the ability of these players to concentrate more on cricket than on ads so that they will do justice to thousands of their fans.
