Quick slam bang T20

Back after a long time on Steemit, today I will be talking about T20 cricket.

Twenty20 or T20 (in short) is one of the newer forms of cricket after the Test and ODI formats. England Cricket Board (ECB) introduced T20 cricket in 2003 in county cricket. The first official T20 international match was played in 2004 between England and NewZealand women's teams.

I was and am a fan of Test cricket but its not something I will continuously sit and watch. There will be periods of absolute brilliance and then there will be some matches on a boring pitch. Interest in test matches sometimes depend on the pitch and the possibility of the result.

Coming to ODIs, there have been amazing ODI matches (Aus vs SA world record match) and the recent (Eng vs NZ 2019 world cup final) but even ODIs become a bit boring in the middle overs. In these busy days, its not easy to sit and watch a full ODI match either.

There have been even shorter formats like T10, or HongKong super sixes. These are fun but its a little too short for my liking.

Coming to my favourite format, the T20. It is a nice format which is quick enough and not too short. The game finishes in approx 3h and more often than not the matches end in super overs which is extra fun. With the success of the T20 World cup a lot of franchise based cricket started (like the IPL). This started building bonds between players of different countries. These days when international matches happen, there is more friendship than enmity between players because they would know each other through some T20 tournament.

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These are my favourite T20 matches.

1. Ind vs Pak group stage match WC 2007. Ended up in a tie and followed by a bowl out. The first ever bowl out and it was very different and unique to players and spectators too.
2. Ind vs Pak WC 2007 final. The first ever T20 WC and it was a close match with a nail biting finish.
3. MI vs KXIP match in IPL 2020. First match with a double super over.

I like batsmen and high scoring matches. With short boundaries and batsmen going after bowlers from ball 1, bowlers are the key in T20 and thats why my favourite players are 2 bowlers.

1. Lasith Malinga : A bowler who bowls yorkers so easily. Even if the batsmen knew a yorker was coming, they could hardly do anything. Slingy action and always smiling. He is a T20 legend.
2. Rashid Khan : Rose to the top at a very young age and inspired many Afghan cricketers to believe they could beat any team. One of the top bowlers in the format across the world.

Hope you enjoyed reading my post. Feedback/comments welcome :-)