METHOD IN MADNESS

Perhaps South Africa team skipper Graeme Smith couldn8217;t have been more candid when he said: 8220;Honestly, I8217;ve lost a bit of patience since I began playing Twenty20. Here you just don8217;t have enough time to take decisions. But I guess that8217;s where the challenge lies. After all, look at Twenty208217;s contribution. I don8217;t think the 438 chase would8217;ve been possible had we not had the Twenty20 experience.8221;

Many may argue that a Twenty20 World Cup at present is a little premature, but the form has been around for close to six years now, and leading the charge is cricket8217;s home, England.

England8217;s Twenty20 Cup and other such events across the world help one realise that technique is an important aspect of this fast-lane form.

Former England opener Robert Key, who led Kent to the T20 county title this year, agrees that this isn8217;t merely a contest of hitting 4s and 6s. 8220;It8217;s more about thinking quickly and being on ones toes all the time. The best part is that you have to continuously keep motivating yourself. A couple of wickets and the momentum can change drastically,8221; he says.

That is something Kolkata-based coach Manabendra Ghosh, who tutored Manoj Tiwary, too agrees with. 8220;It8217;s not merely about hard hitting, batsmen in Twenty20 cricket need very sound technique. Your target is to score two runs per ball, unlike the run-a-ball aim in one-day cricket.

8220;A batsman has to have the right technique to score off good balls, which he would otherwise have left. This ability calls for pure technique.8221;

No wonder shots like the front-foot square cut, defensive sweep, paddle-shot are more widely exhibited here. 8220;If a bowler shoots a good length ball on the off-stump line, instead of driving off the front-foot, batsmen would look to apply the deft defensive sweep. It8217;s technique, not just power,8221; points out Ghosh.

Twenty20 is far from being popular in India, no wonder the MS Dhoni-led team for the World Cup doesn8217;t have the known big names. Yet, India8217;s own inaugural inter-state Twenty20 meet last April, which Tamil Nadu won, threw up new developments.

8220;We realised that it8217;s wrong to think it8217;s about just slam-bang batting,8221; admits former India glovesman and Bengal captain Deep Dasgupta. 8220;At the start, the big teams were losing their top-order really fast in trying to force the scoring. Soon, we learnt that you can8217;t slog just like that. Twenty overs isn8217;t so short after all. You need technique and you need to apply yourself, or you won8217;t last, which was happening to all of us.8221;

When it comes to bowling, variety is the key. Former India seamer and coach of Bengal team in last April8217;s inter-state Twenty20 tournament, Paras Mhambrey, warns that the monotonous and predictable wouldn8217;t work.

8220;There8217;s no margin for error, and batsmen are constantly looking to hit you out. You need variety. A bowler has to mix deliveries up constantly, keep the batsmen guessing before each ball. That8217;s why you find smart, thinking bowlers getting success.8221;

Maybe that explains why the likes of Nayan Doshi, Mushtaq Ahmed, Adam Hollioake and Jeremy Snape have excelled in this form on the county circuit.

The story is no different in India. The starless Tamil Nadu outfit got the better of everybody in a tournament played by heavyweights like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. So it comes as no surprise that England have picked a team that comprises of Twenty20 specialists.

On the other hand, world cricket8217;s power houses8212;Australia and South Africa8212;are sticking to conventional squads. The T20 World Cup will show whether stars of the conventional game can redefine themselves. In case they can8217;t, world cricket will see the rising of super specialists of the abridged version.