There were some other formats that were tried, like the Hong Kong Sixes and the Max Cricket, but T20I is the closest to the original, authentic form of cricket and has since gained international recognition.
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It had taken 94 years for the ODI cricket to be introduced at the international level after the first Test match was played but only 34 before the third international format, the T20 cricket was accepted by the ICC.
With falling gate revenues affecting the English domestic circuit, Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, is said to have proposed the introduction of this format of the game and it was accepted by the English board. This happened in 2003 and within two years of this, the first ever T20I was played between Australia and New Zealand.
Later, in 2007, the first T20 World Cup, the World T20 was played in which, there were 12 teams that participated. India went on to win the tournament by beating Pakistan in a thrilling final to send ripples of interest in the format that they had first opposed. It led to the formation of the unauthorised Indian Cricket League, which was later abandoned due to cash crunch and the Indian Premier League, that has gone on to become the biggest cricketing league in the world. From 2010 onwards, the T20 World Cup will be held every two years, with the next two tournaments being planned for 2012 and 2014.
T20 cricket has almost the same rules as its other two older cousins, the ODIs and Tests. It has a marked resemblance to ODI cricket – instead of 50 overs, it is played over 20 with the remaining rules remaining the same. There is one Powerplay set, consisting of six overs where there are field restrictions while tied games result in a Super Over that decides the result of the game.
T20 cricket has also raised the excitement levels because the batsmen have more freedom to hit out rather than wait out til the slog overs as was the case in the ODIs. The fielding and the general fitness of the cricketers is also higher and many teams have started naming specialist T20 squads for this format of the game.
Some of the really good T20I cricketers include the likes of Suresh Raina, AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi, T Dilshan, Brendon McCullum, Dave Warner, Eoin Morgan and Chris Gayle, with bowlers having a little lesser role to play in this format.
