What drives cricket?

It is virtually impossible being an Indian and not understanding cricket – it is simply something everybody does. However – and I run the risk of ridicule here - I cannot sit through or even seriously follow a Test match. Twenty20 cricket is the only form of cricket I have ever watched, apart from a few [ODI] World Cup finals and semis, and I know that disregarding Test matches makes me a philistine or worse, but I couldn't care less!

When I try explaining cricket to someone from a non-cricketing European nation, only T20 cricket seems to interest them. And I perfectly understand their boredom with even the one-day game. I mean, one needs to pay attention to be involved in a match. When play goes on for more than half a day, where is the thrill?

Why then do I care to read about cricket on this site and write all this? Simply because of T20, and, in my case, the IPL. The early matches up until we knew the grain from the husk were simply too tiresome to watch. And then the qualification scenariosstarted taking shape and one started rooting for one team over another for various reasons … “I hate that actor, or the businessman owner, or certain teams, therefore, won’t support the team” ... “I love the gentlemanly captain of one team or the brilliant strategist of another, so will support them” and so on. The point of all this is: I shall watch if it is fun. Isn't that what sport is for?

All this talk about Test cricket being in danger due to T20 is not significant because trends are driven in the same manner that sport is – due to popularity. The game shall live, because it is being played, not because of its superior breeding. So, in order to sustain the game, let it shape its own course, like everything else in the universe.