None of this is possible, or if possible, advisable in a Twenty20 match. By the time you have done any of the above, half an innings is over, an innings is complete or the battle lost and won. Here, the first ball is as crucial as the last and every ball in between. You never know when what might happen — that’s the most fun part of the twenties. Basically, you have to donate three hours to cricket. See what happened in the last few matches: New Zealand scored 100 runs against India in the last eight overs — that’s about 25-30 minutes of blows to the fence and beyond.

From our vantage positions at home, the bowl-out in a tied game, is perhaps the most delectable. Heresy to say so. This is where the purist in us clashes with the adventurer. The cricket lover in us is dismayed by this soccer import, especially since the goalie is an inanimate object of three stumps. The speculator in us bets on the odds of a hit, miss and the patriot wants India to win — no matter how.

The game grows on you and engenders an unreasonable desire to see every ball clobbered for a six, at least a four. A dot ball is like watching a wicket fall. This is not recommended for the faint of heart, blood pressure victims or those with weak bladders — even the commercial breaks have been shortened so you cannot sneak off there, without missing a blow which ever way it falls.

... contd.