50-over cricket must evolve to survive - Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, has said that mind games in Twenty20 cricket are on par with Test cricket and believes the format is not given its due credit.

"The mind games that go on in Twenty20 are on par with any cricket that I have played, be it Test cricket. The challenge between the bowler and the batter is almost like a game of poker where the two guys are staring at each other and the first one to blink is the one that out," he said. "There are so many questions in your mind; should you go hard on this ball, do you wait a bit? I am sure it's the same with the bowler. Do I want to pump in, do I bowl the yorker, or defensively or attack him?

"The reason I think this format is at par with Test cricket is because the mental pressure comes in as there is very little time to rectify an error. Test cricket one has five days to turn things around but here one wrong decision can prove costly."

Former players like Martin Crowe have said that Twenty20 cricket has already given the 50-over game an identity crisis. Though he believes 50-over cricket should stay, Gilchrist said it has to evolve to survive.

"I do not know where 50-over cricket will land up. Twenty20 cricket came up due to the saturation of 50-over cricket. We do not want to saturate Twenty20 cricket. Cricket is a game that can mutate without losing its basic nature. We tried six-a-side and eight-a-side but that's changing the basics of the game too much."

Gilchrist reiterated that for him Test cricket is the biggest form of game but that he has transformed from a reluctant Twenty20 player to being a fan. "It is a skillful game. I am a firm believer in Test cricket, and that for me, as the phrase goes, proper cricket," he said. "But I don't think Twenty20 is mickey mouse cricket either. It has continued to impress me due to how mentally strong one needs to be."

After a slow start, the IPL sprung into action with two close games yesterday. Both games hurtled towards an exciting finish, with one game even ending with a Super Over. Today, in Durban, where the crowd turnout has been poor so far, there was the biggest crowd for the Bangalore Royal Challenger v Kings XI Punjab game. The IPL is slowly coming alive.