It’s a different ball game, this Indian Premier League (IPL) - the world's most popular and most lucrative T20 league - for the players and the spectators as all parties have realised. While it may be more of the same for the spectators, it cannot be so for the players. They have a personal interest to ensure they are on the dot or they will render themselves irrelevant, that being the nature of the beast.

The batsmen

In Test cricket, when a batsman goes for a classic drive-in the V, one visualises the ball speeding away along the ground between mid-on and mid-off. In limited overs, the ball may go anywhere between mid-wicket and cover regions. In T20, or the IPL, for the same shot, the ball most probably will activate deep fine leg or deep third man. That essentially is the difference, with all batsmen having learned the basics common to all, but the implementation and attitudes are a-changing. 

So, the batsmen modify styles and techniques and are often caught on the wrong foot, to go forward or back. Invariably, the not so talented ones get caught in no man’s land. It’s the nearest you get to ‘gully’ cricket. It may not look pretty but what the heck! So now, there is a Test series, with One Dayers thrown in and to complete the salad, T20 matches at the end. No wonder Test matches are now ending in less than four days - a hitherto unheard of situation. It means, 20 batsmen are being bowled out in less than three days! And, the old-timers and purists go “tut, tut, in our days, etc. This is just not cricket, what?” Maybe, rightly so.

The bowlers

The changing face of cricket does not require much alteration as far as technique is concerned. An in-cutter, an outswinger, or a leg break will be bowled the same way for all types of cricket. The need is now for each bowler to keep the runs down and take wickets against marauding batsmen. In T20, he ends up trying variations with every ball. Accuracy in terms of line and length is sacrificed and often wickets are obtained with rank bad balls. Whatever works!

The pacers have to know how to bowl slower ones while the spinners have to bowl faster ones without a change in grip or technique. Throw in a reverse swing or a 'doosra' every 'teesra' (third) bowler now knows how to.

The fielders

Where there used to be specialist fielders manning particular fielding positions, now each player has to be fit and quick with a good throwing arm. He can be deployed anywhere on the field and be equally effective. Runouts are more in number with fielders being more agile and accurate and batsmen trying to sneak in singles where none exists. With the grounds getting smaller, the fielders have to be extra alert to stop the runs leaking. This, of course, has a snowballing and positive effect on Tests and One Dayers. This is where cricket has gained.

The captains and coaches

They have to be on the ball and cannot afford to switch off even for a minute. They have to create opportunities and be flexible to try out options previously not thought of. In the IPL there may be only a slip to start with and the spinners may not have one at all. So, mind-sets need to be amended. And, as everywhere, the youth are the ones ready to take a risk and go for it. The older ones, though having more experience, would rather go for safety and take fewer chances. 

Saw what New Zealand cricketer and head coach of KKR, Brendon McCullum did or didn’t do, in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)-Mumbai Indians (MI) match? Instead of sending in the big hitters, he went traditional, and the middle order of KKR collapse. And, Brendon was an aggressive and explosive opener. Time and tide, etc.

The commentators

Here too we have a shifting base. Most of the commentators are names who have made a mark in other forms of cricket. Now, they too have to change attitudes and usages to suit the T20 format. They have to be short, sharp, and incisive. Slow and rambling descriptions went out with the dinosaurs. The social media has intruded and has started messing with impressions and perceptions. 

Take the recent case where former Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar commented on Indian team captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli’s two missed catches and failure with the bat, which he surmised being due to inadequate practice, based on a video uploaded by Kohli’s actress wife Anushka Sharma. Gavaskar made the controversial comment about the cricketer’s lack of match practice by referencing a video of Kohli and Sharma playing cricket at home during the lockdown. Now, Gavaskar is having to wear (metaphorically) a helmet - which he never did as an opener - to ward off the verbal bouncers hurled at him by Anushka and social media trolls. 

An appropriate time to pay respect to a great one day batsman and commentator Dean Jones, who passed away in his prime, felled by a 'bouncer' out of nowhere. He brought to the table a fresh brand of commentary and Deano’s out of the box ideas were appreciated by all. He too yorked himself once when he termed South African player Hashim Amla a “terrorist” in jest. Seems like a foot-in-mouth virus, commentators need to be careful about.

The analogy

I often compare the T20/IPL to the gladiator games of the Roman times. The stadium is packed to the rafters with a bloodthirsty, raucous crowd expecting blood and gore to satisfy their atavistic instincts. Their combined energy electrifies the arena, heightens each one’s expectancy.

The gladiators are the batsmen and the bowlers, each in a contest to the end. One of them wins and the next gladiator comes in and it goes on till there is one left standing - the Man of the Series of that particular games. And, of course, Caesar is the final arbiter, the umpire, to decide if a gladiator lives or dies by turning up his thumb or turning it down. Sometimes, he turns to the crowd to get their opinion. Enter, the Third Umpire!

Well underway

It will be another week of drama and entertainment for the spectators from the comfort of their homes. The roar and announcements are manufactured and the hoardings cover the empty stands. The cheerleaders are larger than life on the big screens. It’s all there, it’s happening, but this time, it’s canned. And it has a different flavour. Like beer, one needs to create a taste for it. Another variation for the lovers of cricket!

It’s IPL cricket in the times of COVID. Cricket did I say? Hey, it’s showtime folks! Come join the cabaret.

(The writer played domestic Ranji Trophy cricket in India from 1974-84 and was the first Indian to capture all 10 wickets in an innings in a first-class match that is recorded in Wisden's Almanac at Lords, England. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at iraviravi@gmail.com)