A week to remember for Pakistan cricket
The success of the Faysal Bank T-20 cup was a fine testament to the resilience of the Pakistani cricket fans, writes Sana Kazmi in a blog on the Dawn
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
The success of the Faysal Bank T-20 cup was a fine testament to the resilience of the Pakistani cricket fans, writes Sana Kazmi in a blog on the Dawn. Not only were the crowds packed for almost every evening game (including the group matches), there was significant interest in those watching and following from home.
There is something to admire about a tournament that doesn’t take itself too seriously and produces a champion in exactly a week (I am looking at you, ICC World Cup 2007 and Indian Premier League). However, you can’t help but feel that a little more thought could have been put into the format. With four groups and a total of 13 teams, playing just two group matches each before the semis, it was essentially a knock-out from the get-go.
The argument in favour of multiple teams from one region is that it prevents any one team from being too strong, while making sure all the deserving players still get to play. In practice, though, this only ends up diluting the competition, not enriching it. A better approach to make the league competitive would be to loan some of the top players to a weaker side, like Quetta.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo