As franchise leagues tighten grip on cricket calendar, the T20 World Cup assumes even greater significance

After all, this is the pinnacle of competition, where the best in the world come together and face off to claim bragging rights. But, for cricket, the forthcoming men’s T20 World Cup in Australia is about more than just the game.

It unfolds at a time when the very texture of the game has changed. While countries are still well supported by their faithful fans, the franchise culture that took rook with the start of the Indian Premier League a decade and a bit ago is tightening its grip.

The IPL just grew bigger, taking more days out of the international calendar and the Big Bash League now has strong competition from the South African and UAE-based leagues who want to be the second biggest franchise competition in the world.

What is especially important is the Indian ownership of teams in these leagues. While IPL owners had their presence in other leagues, such as the Caribbean Premier League, they are present in much larger numbers now.

What this could mean, is that somewhere down the road — and developments with franchise and T20 cricket happen faster than you think — a player could be contracted to a franchise that has teams in three of four different leagues. Where does this player then have the room to play international cricket?

Already the International Cricket Council had had to boost the profile of bilateral cricket by introducing a World Test Championship and taking into account limited-overs matches towards direct qualification for the World Cup. But, even that has not been enough of a sweetener in some cases: South Africa withdrew from their ODI series scheduled for January 2023 because it clashed with their domestic T20 franchise league.

When you look at this scenario, and the fact that cricket has become increasingly India-centric, in a financial sense, any World Cup assumes massive significance. Each time the best national teams in the world come together for an event is a chance to show that the older, more traditional types of competition are still relevant.

For the newest audience to cricket, the one that has been won over by marketing dollars, who are chasing bigger and bigger thrills, solely via big hitting and close contests, franchise cricket may be enough. For the other big audience currently, those who are betting on the game, legally, illegally or even putting their money up in fantasy-style games, franchise cricket may be enough.

But, cricket’s soul is built on the fans to whom the World Cup is still the biggest thing going and whose country is still the most important team.

To that end, while cricket embraces the changes that simply cannot be wished away or even resisted, it is worth strengthening the pockets where tradition is still held dear.

Australia is one such country and they come into the World Cup with a strong and dynamic team. Critically, they have a wealth of all-rounders, they have the fast bowlers you need on hard, true decks and they have at least two worldclass finishers.

England, another team that, in the past, been diffident about embracing change, have revamped their T20 team and are thinking to become one of the best in the business, going hard at the opposition from the first ball to the last.

Pakistan bring a gun bowling attack to the World Cup, Shaheen Shah Afridi regaining fitness at just the right time to bolster an already strong strike force, with the only questions being around their batting depth.

On paper Sri Lanka look like a team out of its depth but they beat the best in Asia, winning five games on the trot, to show that in T20 cricket, every single team has a fighting chance, if they just play the right game on the day.

The West Indies might be in terminal decline when it comes to Test cricket, but their players are an integral part of every single T20 league in the world. They have brutal hitters, mystery spinners and enough allrounders to be a mighty force in the World Cup.

India, who’ll be the favourites as far as the fans go, are without two of their essential players, in Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. While Axar Patel has done a fine job making sure Jadeja’s bowling hasn’t been missed, he isn’t quite in the same class as a batter who can float up and down the order, and no one is a match for Jadeja the fielder.

Bumrah’s absence means that India are searching for someone who can give them two overs of death bowling. Bumrah is one of those rare bowlers who picks up wickets while being restrictive. India does not really have a replacement of that kind.

In short, this is a tournament every fan should watch closely because it is wide open and will be played in fantastic conditions that allow everyone to showcase their best. What’s more, the future of the way cricket is played and watched may depend on it.