ODI Betting: Twenty20 cricket brings new skills to the longer formats of the game

ODI preview / Andrew Hughes / 25 June 2008 / Leave a Comment

As India and Pakistan prepare to lock horns in an ODI for the 43rd time in the last four years, Andrew Hughes tells us why the 50-over game is richer for the invention of Twenty20.

Last week it was the Kitply Cup. This week it's the Asia Cup. With so many Mickey Mouse tournaments around at this time of year, it's a wonder Disney haven't taken legal action. For India and Pakistan it must feel like the one-day treadmill will never end. Tomorrow's day night fixture in Karachi will be the third time they have shaken hands this week and in two different countries. Over the last four years, they have met forty-three times. International harmony is a wonderful thing, but this particular bunch of players could be forgiven for being sick of the sight of one another.

But though these tournaments are precisely the kind of one-day pondweed that has clogged up our fixture list for years, this latest Southern Asian tussle might be more interesting than usual. Given that all of the Indians and most of the Pakistanis recently appeared in the IPL, these matches will give us an early indication of just how this franchised cricketing phenomenon is going to change the fifty over game.

Nonsense, I hear those of you with MCC ties spluttering. Surely Twenty20 is an unfortunate outbreak of hit and giggle that can be safely quarantined and will have no bearing on the longer versions? Well history suggests otherwise. Changes in one format invariably impact on the others. In the seventies, the new fangled limited overs game gave a kick up the backside to scoring rates in Test matches. Then with the introduction of fielding restrictions, run rates in the fifty over game leapt off the chart and thanks to the Aussies, one day style aggression began to enliven Test matches. Common sense says Twenty20 is bound to have an effect.

Players tell us that Twenty20 is an intense examination of an individual's cricket intelligence. Frenetic sloggers, particularly in the IPL, did not prosper. Batsmen must know their scoring areas, which bowlers they can hit and where the field is at all times. The imperative to score quick runs means that they have to take calculated risks in every over. There is no room for caution. It is reasonable to assume batsmen who've been through a season in the IPL are likely to approach the longer versions with their cricket brains sharpened and enhanced scoring ability.

There are already signs that the Indian players are carrying their IPL methods into the longer game. In their second Kitply Cup game, they rattled along at a frightening rate, notching fifty in the seventh over and reaching their hundred in the fourteenth. A resurgent Sehwag had something to do with this of course, but credit too to Gautam Gambhir, a man whose international career had been stalled before Twenty20 came along. It's brought out the best in this slight but belligerent opener and compulsive hooker. He averaged forty-one for the Delhi Daredevils and his franchise partnership with Sehwag has been successfully transplanted to the fifty over game.

Two other Indians to watch out for are Rohit Sharma and Yusuf Pathan, both catapulted to prominence by Twenty20. At twenty-one, Sharma already has the technique and range of shots to eventually bat at three in Tests for his country, as well as the audacity to play attacking shots in any situation, common to the new breed of Indian batsmen. Pathan, older brother of Irfan, has a more basic technique, but his clean hitting, improvisation and confidence were central to Rajasthan Royal's IPL winning campaign.

And for Pakistan, it is noticeable that Salman Butt's game has changed since his brief sojourn with the Kolkata Knight Riders. In the Kitply Cup, he supplemented his usual wristy and delicate driving with some lusty punches, slaps and slog sweeps and averaged over a hundred for the tournament.

India are clear favourites for Thursday's game at [1.4] with Pakistan on [2.0] in what is clearly still an immature market. But be wary. By far and away the biggest factor in Karachi day night games is the toss. Come evening time, the only thing thicker than the dew on the ground are the insects in the air. Whilst the bowlers' main worry will be how to avoid a mouthful of moth enroute to the wicket, batting becomes extremely tricky and there is a clear advantage in batting first.