One Day Wonder

I write this blog as one of my best friends (dont wanna name who it is openly. Will just say that his name starts with 'K' and ends with 'eshav') said he would not even glance through my blog if did not have something about cricket in it. So here goes.
I have been trying to come to terms with the newest version of the game namely the T20. After watching quite a few matches, I can safely assume that every bowler who bowls in a T20 game feels like Russel Crowe from Gladiator. What the T20 version of the game has done, is to transform modern cricket stadiums into Roman Gladiatoral arenas where bowlers frantically try to save their skin.
I do not have anything against the T20 versison of the game as such, but it is the odds that are completely stacked against the bowlers that perturb me. First up, the bowlers are given dead-flat tracks where they are as potent as snakes without fangs. Adding insult to injury is the free-hit rule that practically crucifies the bowlers for overstepping. This is not what cricket is supposed to be and I for one, dont enjoy it.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have test matches that are facing extinction due to T20. While I believe that tests should continue to hold their rightful place in cricket , I personally do not believe that they are the highest form of the game.

Ok..now I now that I may be chastised for the above comment. But I do believe that it is the one day format that truly proves a batsman's mettle (Talking purely from the batting perspective here). Firstly , one day cricket does not allow you to play negatively. Many yester-year batsman have proved that, given the option, they would settle for a tame draw. There is no question of that in one day cricket. Another aspect of One day cricket is that, it also allows enough time for a batsman to construct an innings. It forces batsmen to improve their running between wickets as the format makes it inevitable for them to keep the scoreboard ticking.
And here is the major one. One day cricket forces batsmen to play good balls for runs. In test cricket, while most batsmen would be content enough to leave balls outside the offstump, or above waist high, one day cricket ensures that batsman have to score off good balls as well thereby improving their technique and prowess.
Moreover, the one day format of the game is often accompanied by a mental game where players often need to outthink their their counterparts - for instance, Martin Crowe thought out-of-the-box when he sent Mark Greatbatch to flay the bowling during the first few overs when fielding restrictions were in place. One of the major advantages that the one day game has over the T20 is that , it gives a team at the recieving end of a batting onslaught/batting collapse time to bounce back. ODI cricket truly measures the depth of talent that a team has. For instance, I would like to quote Kapil dev's legendary 175 at trentbridge in 1975 when he along with syed Kirmani way down the order rescued India from impending disaster. In T20 cricket, such a rescue would not have been possible.
I have lost count of the number of times the iconic Micheal Bevan has masterminded run-chases even after having come in to bat at precarious situations.

As far as I am ocncerned, One day cricket sets the standard and is complete in almost everyway possible. I might be wrong , but I think that T20 cricket in its present form will lose its lustre due to its nauseating barrage of fours and sixes.
I am sure that by just giving the pitch a little bit of juice and bounce, a lot of current day batting heroes will be transformed into comedians dancing in the middle of the pitch.