New Delhi, Cricket has been completely 'renovated'. After Test, ODI and T20 International cricket, now franchise leagues are dominating, but somewhere the specialty of the long format game is getting lost. The game which was once famous for passion, patriotism and gentleman's game, is now limited to just 'cash in, enjoy' to a great extent!
There is a lot of cash and luxury in T20. Cricketers still have no competition in terms of popularity in sports in India. They get huge packages as well as celebrity treatment. Modern era cricketers also get limelight very quickly through league cricket.
After this, forget about red ball cricket, players have started keeping themselves away from domestic tournaments as well. The main reason for this is busy schedule and not being available citing injury. However, these players remain completely fit during league cricket. In big tournaments like Indian Premier League (IPL), it is often seen that all the big players remain available for the entire season.
Not only in India, but the growing trend towards league cricket can be seen among cricketers of many countries. For this, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and other cricket boards of the world have also become alert. BCCI has taken a tough stand against the attitude of players focusing only on league cricket. The world's richest cricket board has made it clear that players will have to be a part of domestic competitions as well.
Apart from this, many cricket experts and veteran cricketers have expressed their concern over the growing popularity of franchise leagues. This has had an adverse effect on Test cricket in particular. Cricket fans are now focusing more on short format and franchise cricket, because every moment in these matches is full of excitement. Fans enjoy more in enjoying the scattering of stumps, LBW, run-out, fast running between 22 yards, throw, catch out or boundary.
In such a situation, Test cricket has been in danger long ago. However, the Border Gavaskar Trophy and the Ashes series have given it some life. Whereas the dominance of ODIs has been limited to the World Cup only.
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Image Credit: Khas-Khabar.