How much has Cricket changed in the last 10 years
Cricket is one sport which has largely grown all over the world in the last 10 years. The sport is mostly restricted to a handful of countries even now but efforts have been made to make the sport grow around the world. In the last 10 years, there have been even new formats introduced in cricket with the likes of T10 cricket, The Hundred (inaugural edition in 2020).
Here, we take a look at some of the things that have changed in cricket in the last 10 years:
Franchise Cricket takes centerstage
The premier leagues that are happening all over the world with the likes of IPL, BBL, CPL, PSL, BPL, T20 Blast, Super-Smash, Mzansi Super League have made a big impact to the cricket fans all over the world. The Glamour and glitz it brings to the table are immense. It attracts not only the audience big time but also brings a lot of revenue to the table. Much like Football where the clubs and club games have an almost equal amount of interest if not more with the fans, Cricket is slowly moving towards in that direction as well. In the last decade or so, the franchise cricket has made rapid strides and almost people from various countries wanting the premier leagues to happen more than once in a year.
Teams stronger at home turf
The Bilateral series in the recent past has been more predictable in the longer format of the game. The hosts have hardly lost a series in the last 10 years. Pitches have gone completely in favour of the home team. Cricket from the bygone era saw teams winning away from home too. For instance, Australia used to dominate wherever they go to play cricket irrespective of the pitch. South Africa was once termed as the best travelling side under Graeme Smith, such as the Competitiveness that existed in the sport. But in the past few years, a team like Bangladesh has become a tough team to beat at home. Even Australia lost to Bangladesh in a test match recently. India has become almost unbeatable in the home in test match cricket. Things have drastically changed on this front in the last 10 years in cricket.
Rules changes to add entertainment, precision
There has been constantly changing of cricket rules by ICC in the last years. A classic example is the rule of Powerplays. Initially, there was one mandatory powerplay where only 2 fielders were allowed outside the circle for the first 15 overs and 5 fielders outside for the remaining part of the overs. But that changed constantly and the latest powerplay rule is a known commodity to everyone.
Another rule that came into existence in the last decade was the introduction of UDRS(Umpire Decision Review System), where the fielding teams and the batsmen were given the liberty to challenge the on-field decision given by umpire so that the matter will be taken upstairs to the third umpire. Even then, there was a lot of confusion regarding the umpire’ call and as a matter of fact, the confusion and the conundrum are still existing regarding the umpire’s call.
3 Different winners of World Cup title
The amount of home dominance not only stopped with Test cricket but also extended to One day cricket. The 3 world cups that happened this year saw the home team taking the cup with them.
When India won in 2011, it was the first-ever time to have happened in 36 years, but the trend continued and in the next 2 world cups as Australia and England have won the world cup in Australia and England and continued the trend.
Cricket also brought interests in countries like the USA, Papua New Guinea, etc. Soon one can expect it to be a global game with utmost countries taking part in it.