Tuesday 9 March 2010

Will IPL turn over Test cricket?

The question should be will 20twenty turn over Test cricket, but I have purposely not gne for this question due to the popularity of 20twenty going up in recent years due to the start of the IPL. Before IPL started 20twenty was a game that was played to have a rest from the bigger format of cricket but since the inaugration of IPL it's become much more than that as it is the easiest way to earn a quick buck and become famous. Lalit Modi, the director of the IPL recently stated that 'Test cricket is our bread and butter' but in the first year of the IPL, several test matches in India have attracted small crowds. In those several tests, there was the infamous one where Sachin overtook Brian Lara's run-aggregate against Australia and this lead to fear of a dip in popularity in the game's oldest format. Since then the ratings have risen for test cricket in India but in other countries, the shorter format rules the ratings.
Everything at the moment sounds fine for test cricket but the hype of the IPL is so huge that every young cricketer would want to play for Mumbai Indians rather than India. Therefore the next few years for test cricket is very important as it will tell where test cricket lies in the cricketing world. So will IPL turn over test cricket, only time will tell.

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