There is an interesting question on Cricinfo, which asks:

"Is the World T20 on par with the World Cup?".

Cricinfo presents two arguments, for and against, and asks the fans to comment. You can give your view right here, but honestly the only argument for ODI cricket that is making sense is that it has some history associated with it.

And history means old. In the past. Done and dusted with.

The last time I truly enjoyed the World Cup was in 1999. There have been 3 World Cups since then and they have barely been exciting.

On the other hand, this is the 4th World T20 in the last 5 years and each edition has been the most entertaining show put on by the ICC ever.

Solely my opinion ofcourse. But here are 10 reasons why I think that the World T20 is not at par with the World Cup, it is beyond par and a far better tournament.

Number 10: The Cheerleaders.
No seriously!. We all love the cheerleaders.

For years and year we wondered why was it that girls danced only for men playing basketball, football, or baseball. What about cricket?


Apparently it wasn't exciting enough and no woman wanted to sit around for 8 hours (or 5 days) waiting for a boundary or a wicket to step up and shake a leg.

But T20 Cricket provides that opportunity almost every over. And on good days, multiple times during an over!

There are no cheerleaders in the World Cup. In the World T20, there are plenty.

Number 9: The Minnows.
The World T20 provides a platform for the associate nations to shine. There is no question that the associate nations like Ireland, Afghanistan, Netherlands, Kenya and others are way more competitive in T20 cricket than they are in ODIs.


Such is the nature of the game that plenty of fans fancied Afghanistan and Ireland to upset India and Australia respectively during yesterday's matches. Moreover, many believe that Bangladesh can topple New Zealand and Pakistan!

No such thought would even be entertained at the World Cup, where the minnows go through bashing after bashing in a series of meaningless matches.

There's a case for including more associates in future World T20 tournaments, and a very strong case. Teams like Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland, UAE, USA, Hong Kong can surely be playing this tournament.

Number 8: Meaningless ODI Cricket.
The ICC restricts the number of T20 internationals that teams can play during a bilateral series and during a year, keeping the total number of T20Is played at a low level as compared to ODIs, which are played in abundance.

Meaningless bilateral ODIs have pretty much taken the charm of ODI cricket away. There are so many ODIs played during a year, which have no meaning or purpose, that by the time the World Cup comes around the first thing we wonder is when the first month and a half will end so we can get to the business end of the tournament.

T20 cricket is largely played at the league/club/domestic level so the appetite for international T20 remains large.

Number 7: The Duration.
The World T20 lasts for a total of 20 days. 25 if you count the warm ups, which are just as exciting as the actual game.

Watch Pakistan vs India from 2009 or from two days ago and there would be nothing about the games that would say "warm up".

Plus in those 20-25 days, there is not a single day of meaningless games of cricket. There is no single day on which any one can confidently say that this team is going to win. There is no single day on which we can miss the action because it all counts for something.

The World Cup lasts for over 50 days, and 75% of the days are completely meaningless, which hardly have any bearing on the composition of the Super 8s or 6s or quarterfinals. Boring!

Number 6: Australia doesn't win the World T20.
It is a big reason honestly. The Australians will not like this, but one reason why the 2003 and 2007 World Cups were pointless was because it was quite clear that Australia will win them even before a single ball was delivered!

The ICC might as well have given the trophy to Australia without holding the World Cup.

What's worse is that the Aussies didn't even try to make it exciting by losing a match or two. They just marched along winning match after match and lifted the trophy in the most robotic manner possible. They need to learn a thing or two from Pakistan!

When it comes to the World T20 though, Australia lose in the semis, they exit in the first round, and they make the final in the most exciting manner ever but lose.


Now that makes it exciting!

Number 5:  The Competition.
Not only are the minnows more competitive, the relatively stronger teams also compete more fiercely in T20 cricket.

Its a fire cracker of a game with very little margin of error due to the shortened time. Majority if T20 games provide a clearer indication of the side that will win during the last 4-5 overs. While in ODIs, majority of the game are predictable. With half of them you know the winner before the match even starts, and with the rest you know after the first innings.

The intensity among cricketers is at all time highs during T20 games. Even more so during the World T20 games.

Not that the intensity is not there during the World Cup, but there are so many games during which the players can switch off. During the World T20, you can't switch off for even a minute!

Number 4: It is always Wide Open
Not many people predicted India to win the World T20 in 2007. Or Pakistan in 2009. Or England in 2010.

Nor can many people pick one team that they think will win it this year.

That is how open the World T20 typically is. It is really any body's cup. And this year it is being touted as more open than previously. Probably so.

How often do you see that happening in the World Cup?

Australia. Australia. Australia. India. Well not the 1999 one, but every World Cup since then was pretty much called out and predicted by the majority well before the opening ceremony.


Number 3: It is a World Cup Damn it!
I'm not too sure why the ICC shies away from calling it the T20 World Cup, because it is a damn World Cup. Its not the ODI one, sure. But it is a T20 World Cup where all the cricket nations are competing for T20 supremacy.

Are England not the T20 defending champions? Are India and Pakistan not the former T20 champions?

You only become a champion if you win a World Cup.

So sure the World T20 sounds good as a brand and has a good ring to it, but it really is the World Cup.

That really nullifies the question!


Number 2: History will be made...
So the biggest argument that the World Cup has going in its favor is that it has history associated with it. Almost 40 years of it.

That's a long time compared to the 5 years of history that the World T20 has, but so what really?

History will be made. And a lot of it has already been made.

India will always be remembered as the first ever T20 champions. Misbah will always be remembered for playing that ill-fated scoop in the epic India vs Pakistan final in the first World T20. Shahid Afridi will be remembered for championing a successful 2009 campaign for Pakistan. And the World T20 2010 will go down in history as the first ever major tournament won by England, the inventors of the game.


All this is history.

So what history is the World Cup boasting about? Sure there's a lot, but doesn't mean that the World T20 doesn't have one.

Number 1: The Global Footprint.
If cricket is to expand into new global markets, then T20 cricket is the way to do it, and the World T20 is the platform to showcase the new countries on.

The largest World Cricket event that has taken place thus far is a 16 team World Cup and it was full off meaningless one-sided ODIs that hardly anyone paid interest.


A World T20 with 16 teams, or even 20 for that matter, can be an exciting event. I reckon that 10-15 year down the line the World T20 can even be a 32 team event ala FIFA World Cup.

That is when one will be able to say that cricket has finally established its global footprint.

With a 120+ years history, it is about time it does!

T20 Cricket is the way to go and the World T20 is the platform to promote it to the world.

At par with the World Cup? Way beyond!

4-2-8-6.

Those are some insane figures!

Ajantha Mendis gave a world record breaking performance in the opening game of the World T20 against Zimbabwe, which home team and hot favourites Sri Lanka won comfortably.

The best figures in T20 internationals before this game were 4-1-16-6, which also belonged to Ajantha Mendis.

Not only did he overhaul his own feat, Mendis also became the only bowler to pick up a five wicket haul twice in T20 internationals.

Sorry, make that a 6 wicket haul twice in T20 internationals.

Mendis also bettered Umar Gul's 5-6 against New Zealand during the World T20 in 2009 to notch up the best ever figures in a World T20 game.

Before today's opening game, Mendis was 6th on the list of highest wicket takers in T20Is. With today's efforts he moved up to number 4 and sits behind the 3 Pakistanis at the top.

He also moved up to number 5, from number 9, in the list of highest wicket takers in World T20 games.

With South Africa also in their group, tougher tests await Sri Lanka, however they gave a very strong account of themselves today and showed why they are being considered as hot favourites for the title.

It was a good start for them at the World T20 and a tremendous start for Ajantha Mendis, who will continue to play a key role for Sri Lanka in this competition.

We are less than a week away from the 4th edition of the ICC World Twenty20. Teams have started landing in Sri Lanka, and the hype is building up for the warm up games that start tomorrow.

A colourful and catchy illustration that shows what the ultimate player for the T20 cricket world cup should be made up of. A feature of each of these world class players has been chosen to create a single unbeatable cricket player that would be an unstoppable force at this year’s T20 world cup. Each body part chosen represents the best features of the player in question and underneath the image there is a brief description of why each player has been assigned a certain body part and what they have done to earn their inclusion in the T20 world cup ultimate player. Make sure you tune in to see all the drama and action as all these players take part in this fast paced competition.

Australia regained their position at number 9 in the ICC Rankings for T20 cricket, however it was fun for a bit when they were ranked below Ireland for 3 days!

I don't really know how I can capture in words what I experienced on Friday night at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, but I'm still going to try. I probably will not do justice to it, but there are moments from that night that need to be captured.

I have no doubt in my mind that I witnessed the best T20 International ever. The Pakistan vs India final of the first World T20 in 2007 was also an unbelievable game, but this Pakistan vs Australia T20 trumps it.

Friday, 7th September 2012 will be remembered for a long long time, and decades later people will talk about that tied T20 game between Pakistan and Australia that was decided of the final delivery of a Super Over.

What made it all the more exciting was the crowd.

20,000 people under one roof cheering the greens on. For the last 30 minutes or so of the match, I could not hear the person next to me. It was that loud!

Phenomenal. Magical. Madness. No words can really describe what it felt like to first witness Abdul Razzaq get the wicket of Patrick Cummins of the final delivery of the match to tie the game and then to witness Umar Akmal scamper to the non striker's end to win the match for Pakistan off the final delivery of the Super Over.


Actually Pakistan had won the game as soon as Cummins bowled a wide. According to the rules, if the Super Over is tied then the team that has hit the most boundaries in the match (including the super over) wins. Pakistan had hit 20, Australia 19.

So that delivery after the wide was not really needed.

But I'm glad it was bowled because winning that game of a wide would not have done justice to the crowd that erupted in the loudest cheer I have ever heard when Dan Christian missed the ball at the non-striker's end and Umar Akmal completed the run that brought Pakistan victory!

There were some truly phenomenal moments in the game, and some that will always be remembered just because I was in the crowd. Here are some (or many) of them:

1. Initial Buzz Kill
Many of us were looking forward to watching Imran Nazir bat. His second ball duck quietened the entire crowd.

2. Cheer of the Day
As soon as Nazir got out, Shahid Afridi ran on to the field with water for Hafeez. The cheer he got from the crowd remained the loudest for the initial stages of the match.

3. Its a Bird, Its a Plane, no its Dan Christian
Hafeez and Jamshed were motoring along when Dan Christian produced one of the most outstanding catches you will ever see. It was the best catch I have ever seen at a stadium. It had all the 20,000 Pakistanis on their feet and applauding.


Even Nasir Jamshed smiled.

Dan Christian is Superman really. He even pulled off another similar stunt and saved a sure shot boundary that had the entire crowd stunned once again.


The catch was shown repeatedly on the big screen at the stadium and every time it was met with an applause.

4. Brotherly Love
The Akmal brothers put on 46 runs for the 4th wicket partnership, and though Umar's contribution was only 13, the way he ran with his elder brother was unlike any other Pakistani pair. They stole singles, converted ones into twos, and upped the tempo at just the right time for Pakistan.


Their understanding in the middle was apparent. Probably for them it felt like just another family game in their back yard.

5. Who says the Crowd only Cheers for Afridi
When Abdul Razzaq walked out to bat in the final over of Pakistan's innings, the Dubai crowd erupted in a cheer that I have only witnessed for Shahid Afridi. I was pleasantly surprised to be honest, but its good to know that people have not forgotten him.

6. Discussion of the Night - Part I
During the17th over of Australia's innings, our section of the crowd broke into a discussion on who would bowl the next three overs. It went something like this...

"Yaar agla Ajmal ko dena chahye"
"Nai nai Hafeez kare khud, phir Ajmal aur Gul ke aakhri dono"
"Buss aakhri Ajmal ko na de, 2010 semi final wala scene na ho jaye"
"Hafeez bahut pita hai aaj, Malik ya Razzaq ko ek over dede"
"Pehle dena chahye tha yaar"
"Malik aur Razzaq bhi pitenge. Captain hai, khud responsibility le aur karaye"

In the meantime, Sohail Tanvir had castled David Hussey, completed his over, and Ajmal had started the 18th over.

7. Who Said Only Footballers Can Fake?
In the 19th over, Saeed Ajmal made a very poor attempt to stop a ball at short fine leg, which resulted in a boundary. His lame half-assed dive was not one that would have resulted in a "dislocated" shoulder. Yes that's what he said at the post match presentation.

But Ajmal walking of the field holding his arm was the best act put on by a Pakistani fielder ever.

His substitute was Yasir Arafat, who misfielded of the very next delivery in the same position as Ajmal, which resulted in another boundary.

However, after that Yasir Arafat turned into a Super Sub! He ran out Matthew Wade with a direct throw from the boundary, he timed his run and judged the ball coming off George Bailey's blade to perfection giving Pakistan a much needed wicket off the first ball of the final over, and he ran like a hare during that last over keeping the Aussies down to a single at least twice.

Thank you Saeed Ajmal!

8. Discussion of the Night - Part II
We had all expected that Umar Gul will bowl the final over, so when he was handed the ball in the 19th we broke into another discussion.

"Yaar ghalti kardi Hafeez ne. Aakhri over phir spinner"
"Khud nai karega, Shoaib Malik ko dega"
"Ab to khud hi karana hoga. Captain hai, responsibility le"

We all went into shock when Shoaib Malik walked up to the bowling end after a lengthy discussion among 6 of Pakistan's cricketers.

"Nai yaar. Malik! Isse hero banna hai kya Sania ke saamne"
"Bh#$%&d Marwayega"

And suddenly Hafeez changes his mind and calls up Razzaq.

"Naheeeeeeennn.. Razzaq ne last kab bowling ki this International cricket me?"
"Ghalti hai yaar. Rookie mistake, Hafeez should have used a 6th bowler earlier"
"Warr gaye Bh#$%&d"

9. Run of the Night
It wasn't by either of the Akmals, nor by Yasir Arafat, nor by either of the Aussies. The run of the night was shared by 3 spectators who somehow dodged the stadium security and ran on to the pitch during the course of play. Well 2 of them, the third one was hauled down by 5 men!

The first man sprinted across the field with a Pakistani flag, circled a player or two and ran back into the stands before the security could even move from their places.

The second person was a little kid who ran in when Razzaq came in to bat. The umpire stood in his way, the kid dodged him, shook Razzaq's hand and ran back into the stands.

By now the security at the boundary lines had doubled.

But it didn't stop yet another spectator to run on to the pitch. This time the security was ready though. Took 5 men to corner and haul down this one.


10. Mass Hysteria
The first delivery of Razzaq's over took forever to reach George Bailey. It was that slow. But it was a rank long hop and we all felt that it was going over the ropes. But Yasir Arafat sprinted around and held on to a wonderful catch. The entire stadium, 20,000 people, erupted in the loudest cheer of the night.


11. Stunned Silence
The 5th delivery of Razzaq's over was sent sailing over mid wicket for a six by Pat Cummins. It tied the game. The crowd went quiet.

Game over we all felt.

Hafeez hustled the troops. Men were called in to the inner circle.

We all stood there, hands on our heads. For some on their hips. A few started to leave. It was over for the crowd. Cummins had sealed the deal for Australia.

12. Mass Hysteria Encore
It was really quiet as Razzaq ran in for the final delivery, but once again the entire crowd broke into an even louder cheer than before as soon as Cummins hit the ball in the air and Pakistani fielders got under it.

"Dont drop it please!" someone shouted, and the cheer reached its peak as Imran Nazir held on to it safely.

Razzaq, who had almost given the match away, saved it at the end.

The big screen said "Super Over" and we all waited in anticipation.

As I said at the start, no words can really capture the emotions that the crowd went through during the Super Over. It was out of this world, and something that I had never witnessed before.

I have seen a large number of cricket matches all around the world at various different grounds. But the intensity and excitement that I was a part of on Friday has never been matched before.

It was truly unbelievable.




Cheering, high fiving, hugging started inside the stadium and continued on to the roads outside the Dubai Cricket Stadium as fans danced to the beats of a dhol and celebrated a magnificent victory.

The heat, the traffic jams, the sweat - all was forgotten once Pakistan won the game in a nail biting finish.

It was the best T20 international I have ever seen, and by far the best international cricket match I have seen at a cricket ground.

"I don't mind that I have not been shortlisted for any of the awards. I will try even harder next year and try to win the award next year Insha'Allah"

Saeed Ajmal's reaction at not being shortlisted for any of the ICC Awards that he was initially nominated for was probably the calmest reaction among former Pakistan cricketers and Pakistan cricket supporters. The news that Ajmal was no longer a nominee for any of the ICC Awards came as a shock to every Pakistan cricket fan that I know.

So are we Pakistani fans cribbing for no reason or are we justified for feeling that Saeed Ajmal was unfairly treated.

Firstly, lets take a look at the shortlist of nominees for three of the Awards:

ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Lasith Malinga, Kumar Sangakkara

ICC Test Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara

ICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Michael Clarke, Vernon Philander, Kumar Sangakkara

All great cricketers no doubt!

What do you think the criteria is behind selecting these cricketers as the shortlisted nominees for these awards?

The awards are for the period between 5th August 2011 and 4th August 2012. Lets take a look at who achieved what during this period in ODIs and Tests.

ODI PERFORMANCES

Batsmen

Typically I show the leading 10 run scorers whenever I write about leading batsmen in a series or a year, and so on. Here I had to increase the list further to highlight Dhoni's performance considering he's one of the nominees for the ODI Award.


Yes, Dhoni has been nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year award even though he was not among the 10 leading run scorers during the year.

So what criteria do you think was used for shortlisting Kohli, Sangakkara, and Dhoni among the batsmen for the ODI Award?

From what it seems to me, they went for the two leading run scorers (Kohli and Sangakkara) and the one with the highest average (Dhoni).

Don't you think that maybe Dilshan should have made the cut instead of Dhoni? Dhoni's average is significantly bloated because of his not outs, which account for 50% of the 22 innings that he played during the stated period.

Bowlers

The choice of Lasith Malinga among the shortlist of nominees for the ODI Cricketer of the Year Award seems more straight forward - he is miles ahead of any other bowler in terms of number of wickets taken during the stated period.




TEST PERFORMANCES

Batsmen

Now you can see a pattern emerging among the choices made for the shortlisted nominees. For the 3 batsmen chosen, i.e. Sangakkara, Clarke, and Amla, the choices are of the two leading run scorers and the one with the highest average during the stated period.

Exactly the way it was done for the ODIs, as shown above.


But does it make sense? what makes Hashim Amla more deserving than Mohammad Hafeez? Or for that matter Shivnarine Chanderpaul? (Please don't read this as a comparison between the class of these batsmen. After all the nominations have been made based on these performances and not on how good a batsman is technically or how good he looks while executing those cover drives)

Bowlers

Now this is where it gets really confusing. While the same sort of criteria seems to have been used for selecting 3 batsmen as the nominees for the ODI and Test Awards, this is not the case for bowlers.


Saeed Ajmal is the leading wicket taker in tests during the stated period, just like Malinga was for ODIs. But, while Malinga was nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, Ajmal has been ignored for the Test Player of the Year Award.

Why?

The bowler nominated for the test award, Vernon Philander, has no doubt had a phenomenal year. No one even comes close to his average and strike rate, however he is not the leading wicket taker.

Moreover, if the leading average or strike rate were the criteria for selecting the nominee from bowlers, then it should have been Sunil Narine or Steven Finn who should have been nominated for the ODI Cricketer of the Year Award, and not Malinga.

Whereas, if wickets was the criteria, then it definitely should have been Saeed Ajmal who should have been nominated for the Test Cricketer of the Year Award. Don't forget that those performances also include match winning performances in each of the three tests that Pakistan beat the world number 1 test team in.

How can this be ignored? Seriously!

We are not done yet. There is the final category, the Cricketer of the Year Award, wherein Ajmal has also been unfairly excluded.

CRICKET PERFORMANCES

Batsmen

The same 3 batsmen that were nominated for the test award, have been nominated for the Cricketer of the Year Award, but this time the same criteria, i.e. two leading run scorers and one with the highest average was not used.


These are performances of batsmen across all formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20s) during the stated period, and it really makes me wonder why Kohli and Dilshan were ignored from being nominated. Look at how far down the pecking order Amla is, and this time he does not even have the best batting average.

Bowlers

Now this is where the real shocker comes.


Just take a look at what Saeed Ajmal has achieved across all formats of cricket during the stated period.

Take a look at it again.

No bowler even comes close to that performance.

A hundred and twenty wickets in tests, ODIs, and T20s; 40 wickets more than the next bowler on the list; and you do not get nominated for the the Cricketer of the Year Award.

WHY!?

Now do you really think that Pakistan fans are cribbing for no reason at all? How can anyone explain the exclusion of Saeed Ajmal from the shortlist of nominees?

I really do not think that there is any logical explanation to this. None whatsoever.