Sports in general have seen growth and rising interest over the years but if there is one discipline that has witnessed an exponential jump, then it has to be cricket. Be it in content, popularity, fortunes and reach, this sport of bat and ball has simply moved away high above the rest and there is no knowing where this multi-crore sport is heading to! Unbelievable has been the rise and little wonder that other sporting disciplines should look like poor cousins of cricket for such is the wide chasm. Imagine this was a sport that once used to be viewed with a leisurely setting for no lover of cricket then would look forward to a slam-bang festival but a dour display of skills of the bat and ball. Somebody like the English legend Ken Barrington typified this. The way he would take hours to pile up runs was one aspect but his defence-oriented play was acknowledged for its solidity. The English great was a master of concentration and one who would never easily give up the crease! Cut to the present times and in particular the T20 variety of cricket and the wide difference comes to the fore and also provides the key to modern cricket that triggers gala time like never before.

It’s the evolution seen in........

© Mathrubhumi English