Will India nurture the golden goose?

Early last week, with Antigua revelling in an exciting new world of Stanford 20/20, and England in a frenzy over one of the highpoints of their domestic season, India took a reluctant step. More than three years have elapsed since English marketing expert Stuart Robertson devised a method to refuel interest in county cricket, but finally the Indian board (BCCI) has decided to incorporate Twenty20 into their first-class calendar, that too owing to pressure.

Inevitably the move has been criticised from a cricketing point of view. Some feel that it will affect batting techniques, others feel it will trigger burn-out, and Navjot Sidhu brushed it aside as "Underwear cricket". That's probably the best way to look at it: something to be laughed at but something that can indeed make a difference. Robertson had no qualms in spelling out that it was a means to an end, not an end in itself. The key was not to view it as a sport, but as a marketing method with a slice of pizzazz.

It's worked alright. All 6500 tickets for Essex's game against Yorkshire at Chelmsford were snapped up within four hours of going on sale and there was hardly any leg-room. Despite the initial stages of the Stanford 20/20 not being that high on quality, what with 43-year-old amateurs playing from tiny islands, the response hasn't been that different. Lahore and Karachi had an overwhelming response in Pakistan's first two editions. Same with cities around South Africa and Australia - the WACA was sold out for the first time since 1981. Forget domestic games, where grounds are jam-packed with eerieness, India have recently found it tough to fill Test grounds.

Arguments that sprung up three years ago about it being a one-dimensional game were perhaps exaggerated. Or maybe the best way to look at it is to see it as a game that needs a different set of skills. Bowlers don't just target the blockhole but have developed ingenious ways to thrive in the system (Hylton Ackerman recently spoke of a strategy by which bowlers sometimes don't mind conceding a single so that the good batsmen get off strike). Harbhajan Singh thought it would lead to the massacre of the spinners but the stats show he's way off the mark. It encourages innovative fields and improvised strokeplay and there's a certain thrill in ball-by-ball risk management. The spectacular success in Pakistan and West Indies comes as no surprise; Twenty20 contains all the attributes that tape-ball cricket and beach cricket foster.

But can it actually make a difference in India? It's most definitely worth a try. Social priorities, in big cities, no longer allow for anyone to spare a whole day in a first-class game; malls, cinema theatres and theme parks are a bigger temptation. Twenty20 only takes slightly more time than a football match and, if scheduled during prime-time, will invariably get urban viewers. The popularity of the English Premier League - and you just need to walk into college canteens, coffee bars or pubs to realise its impact - has much to do with slick TV coverage and it's imperative that the BCCI realise its importance.

For smaller towns, starved of star-studded international cricket, it provides a perfect window. Few years back, an India-West Indies women's one-dayer at Dhanbad had several people watching it from the treetops because the stands were overflowing (there's a theory that they came to see ladies but the more plausible explanation is that they came to see cricket, since they normally get none). You can imagine the atmosphere if Mahendra Singh Dhoni is placed in the centre, with a licence to loot. And, if it works at all, first-class cricketers will actually get a feel of playing in front of packed houses before they enter the international cauldron.

Like any other novelty, its success will largely depend how it's executed. It's a game that allows for tremendous crowd involvement - through prizes, mascots, memorabilia, music, and peppy announcements. At Chelmsford the crowd couldn't get enough of banter with Eddie the Eagle, the Essex mascot, and were thrilled when spectators' birthdays were announced and songs dedicated. Not that these techniques would work in India - the decibel levels, especially in large grounds, may overshadow announcements of any sort - but it's important to find some means of public involvement.

Allen Stanford's cash-splash has worked wonders - Garfield Armstrong, a 41-year-old allrounder from Bahamas, pocketed US$10,000 for a stunning catch, Darren Sammy, another allrounder from St Lucia, won US$25,000 as a Man-of-the-Match award. Lalit Modi and friends must pick up the baton, keeping in mind that the majority of domestic cricketers in India struggle to find jobs and very few of them can actually afford a lifestyle like their counterparts in England and Australia.

Twenty20 will no doubt present a new challenge for the BCCI. They would need to nail the right format, one that allows to pack in national stars (unlike in England there would be no overseas pros to draw in crowds) and they would need to fit it into a hectic schedule. It's a format with limitations - the next Rahul Dravid isn't going to come out of there - but it's also one with immense potential. Underwear isn't entirely without use.