Ipl Killing T20 Cricket?

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Ljp86

Ljp86

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Having not seen any of the IPL (due to a TV rights dispute here in Australia) I recently learnt that the fourth series of the tournament saw the competition taper off and perhaps even descend into a decline. Crowd numbers were down from last season with several games only half-filled to capacity. Even some of the finals matches had empty seats which would have been inconceivable about two years ago as the competition was so popular. Now, after a serious amount of overkill the IPL seems to be on the wane.

To be honest, I am little surprised given how cricket-mad India is but on the other hand I'm not all that shocked. The IPL was the brainchild of the BCCI who had a desire to form a cricketing competition which would attract the best players from around the world to play in India but to also kill off the rival Idian Cricket League (ICL). Both goals were achieved and the first series was highly enjoyable simply because no-one had done anything like this before. Now though, the series has gone from an exiciting, never before seen cricketing series to something which appears to have gotten repetitive and also quite stale.

The saturation of the competition which included 74 games this season and 94 last season has resulted in total overkill and along with the excessive advertising and repetitiveness of games has resulted in smaller crowds, lower TV ratings and general lack of interest almost. This was perhaps because the seasons are far too long or India has simply had enough of T20 cricket which would be a fair effort considering how much India is obsessed with the sport. Not only has this occured in India but the same has happened in England where the T20 matches played in the county season have also been reduced due to smaller crowds and a complete overkill on the amount of games played.

Is this the decline of T20 cricket or is there still more to come?
 
England went bonkers. There was over 150 games of it. IPL had about half that this season and I think it was at least as much due to having just cleaned up the World Cup that the IPL didn't have much thrill to it for the Indian fans. If they want the IPL to work they can't go hosting (and winning) big international championships too often.
 
I started to get bored of the IPL halfway through the first season once the novelty of the different player combinations wore off..

**** knows what the idiots at the ACB are thinking by expanding the Big Bash, an awesome comp with great crowds yet they want to stuff it up trying to grab a few extra $$ by creating lame franchises. Very good chance it will blow up their faces IMO.
 
That's what has annoyed me. I feel like the Big Bash has added somewhat to the State profiles and fan base and yet they are trying to detach the family/kid fans already from that.

Madness.
 
Beeswax said:
England went bonkers. There was over 150 games of it. IPL had about half that this season and I think it was at least as much due to having just cleaned up the World Cup that the IPL didn't have much thrill to it for the Indian fans. If they want the IPL to work they can't go hosting (and winning) big international championships too often.
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I personally think that people have reached just about enough T20 that one can take. 150 games is ridiculous, a tournament shouldn't even have half those games. You would think that playing each once would be enough, particularly for those competitions which have a large amount of sides.

As for the Big Bash, I'll be interested to see how it goes. There are no Indian players coming across and other players will also be restricted by their own country's schedule and also the domestic scene. I thought the way that the competition has been in previous seasons has been very good and that the whole franchise angle is unwarranted.
 
I thought the Big Bash had added new interest to the state cricket system which it badly needed. This is why it is sad that they are detaching it from that.

I hope the states are going to have some of the pie that is planned on being cut up and eaten by the franchise businesses.
 
Too much T20, domestic cricket should be evenly spread ie 20 T20 games (per season), 20 ODI games per season, 20 Three/Four/Five day games per season etc.

No one would get bored then.
 
futureblackcap said:
Too much T20, domestic cricket should be evenly spread ie 20 T20 games (per season), 20 ODI games per season, 20 Three/Four/Five day games per season etc.

No one would get bored then.
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i agree, too much cricket eveywhere at the moment i think they need to play less in all forms.. make games more meaningful..
sad to see the big bash go away from the states was awesome getting behind the vics at the g with 30,000 others. will be great to watch T20 at etihad stadium though.
 
Too much T20 cricket is killing the cricket. Specifically IPL killing the cricket. New comer are much interested to play in IPL event.
 
No competition will ever succeed unless both the fans and the players care about who wins. The golden rules are:

keep the rules as simple as possible, and keep the razzmatazz to a minimum and focus on the cricket.
divide the teams up along traditional lines so that people will instinctively support their local team.
play the games on the same day each week so people know when to watch it, and don't cram them all into a ridiculously small time period.
make sure the teams put out their best players, and the players themselves take the game seriously.
reduce the overall amount of cricket by reducing the number of friendly games in ALL formats. Cricket needs context.
Lose the stupid snobbery against T20 and all the inaccurate cliches about slogging and blaring music. We get it, you're a purist and you prefer Test Matches. So do I. But a half decent game of T20 cricket is still better than almost any other sport.
Each form of cricket has its own place. A good balance would be for both domestic and international sides should play about 12-15 games of each format per year - but they should all count for something in a form of league structure, no more pointless unilateral series.
 
I don't think T20 cricket is killing cricket, I think it is changing cricket. People want to see sixes and short and sharp games other than the purest cricket supporters who think test cricket is the best like me. I'll say it again. It's about balance, not favoring any of the three formats both internationally and domestically around the world. Playing equal amounts of t20, odi and test cricket and lessening the amount of pointless series. More meaningful series is the answer. That way, everyone is happy.
 
I ended up warming to the re-branded Big Bash, there is no doubt the extra teams have lowered the standard a bit though.
 
I wouldn't say T20 is killing cricket. I think it is offering more entertainment and attracting a different range of people.

The Big Bash League gives teams more exposure and they can see how their players go in the T20 format of the game. It also gives selectors a chance to see how players perform in T20 and if they are ready to play T20 for Australia.
 
Its not killing cricket, but there is a little too much T20 cricket on. One of the great things about T20 is the new people that are brought to the sport because of it.
 
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