The future of Twenty20

After the disastrous, 50-over World Cup in the West Indies where the death of a coach, an absurdly stretched-out schedule, exorbitantly priced tickets, and the early exit of India and Pakistan meant that everything that could go wrong did go wrong, the ICC World Twenty20 has been an administrator's dream.

The matches have attracted respectable crowds, the South Africans have been efficient hosts, the abbreviated format which many thought would make cricket a meaningless slugfest has resulted in matches played on remarkably level terms with canny bowlers more than holding their own against rampant batsmen.

Best of all the final played on Monday featured the fiercest rivalry in cricket, which, happily for the ICC, is also its biggest money-spinner.

It was an improbable outcome.

The Pakistan team has been beset by disciplinary problems, it was bringing in a new coach and its batting stalwarts had either retired or been deemed unsuitable for this ultra-compact version of the game.

The Indians had played only one Twenty20 match. Unlike England (which pioneered the format) and South Africa, there is no domestic tournament worth its name in India built around the new format.

The Indian cricket board had been less than enthusiastic about Twenty20 because conventional ODIs have been such a reliable source of revenue.

Nobody in India, as India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni keeps pointing out, expected the Indian team to make any headway in the tournament.

And now they've gone and won it by a whisker after a heart-stopping final. What does this mean for the future of cricket?

The rest of the article can be read on on the BBC News website here