Symptoms of the Twenty20 crisis
Both India and West Indies will feature second-string XIs for the opening Twenty20 match of their series
Nitin Sundar
25-Feb-2013
Both India and West Indies will feature second-string XIs for the opening Twenty20 match of their series. Sandeep Dwivedi of the Indian Express writes that this seemingly similar ailment, rooted in the rapid growth of Twenty20s, has diagonally opposite causes: Indians are overpaid, the West Indians underpaid.
From an average Indian fan's perspective, the present-day, newlook West Indies squad provides zero connect. During the 1980s, the West Indies was cricket's Brazil -a team with a global appeal. Even when it played against India, it was acceptable here to support the highly skilful entertainers from the Caribbean. The slide has been gradual but the last decade saw a free fall. Today, Sammy has under his wings players like Lendl, Hyatt and Nurse in a largely unknown team. In case these names bring tennis, hotels and hospitals to your mind, it isn't an insult to the obscure players but a true reflection of the times in West Indian cricket.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo