Twenty reasons for India to keep smiling

It is a moment that still remains etched in the memory of all those who saw it on television, or at the jam-packed Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

With five runs needed of the last four balls of a match that had turned from side to side more times than a chappati on a frying pan, Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq stepped across his stumps and attempted to flick a shortish ball from India's Joginder Sharma over short fine-leg. He mis-timed, top-edged and ballooned a simple catch to S Sreesanth – handing India the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup title.

It was international cricket's most exciting final ever. It was an amazing triumph of a team not even expected to win and like India's 1983 World Cup victory – it was the moment that would once again revolutionise the game.

Within days, a country that had previously turned their back on Twenty20, embraced the format with a burning desire and an appetite for more. The Indian Cricket Board took note and within months, dished out a lavish feast so appealing that even Bollywood's biggest celebrities and the country's top businessman fought for a place at the table of the newly formed Indian Premier League.

India had jumped on the T20 rickshaw and turned it into a bandwagon, but it didn't start off as merry as that – just ask Yuvraj Singh, one of India's heroes in that tournament in South Africa. There was a time when respected, senior players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid refused to play the format claiming it was "not serious cricket". All that changed after the final though.

"It was a great act, an electrifying 15 days for us," says Singh.

"We were a young team and no one knew what we were capable off. The older, experienced players were not playing and no one expected us to do well.

"It started off a bit hectic because we had just completed a long tour of England playing Tests, and then suddenly, we had to change our mindset for Twenty20.

"We had hiccups early on, like the game against Pakistan [Group stage match] and against New Zealand, but I think the young team enjoyed each others company and success.

"It was a great performance and a great team effort.

"Then, when we came home, the response we got from the whole of India was just incredible."

So incredible that today, exactly one year and nine days on from the final, India are now the superpowers in Twenty20 cricket, both on and off the field. They are visionaries that turned the once 'hit and giggle' format into a money-making machine. They are home to three of the four biggest Twenty20 competitions; the glitzy and glamourous Indian Premier League (IPL), its 'rebel' cousin the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the Champions League, which begins in December.

When the IPL franchises were put up for auction in January, the country's rich and famous – from India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, who bought Mumbai for $111.9m (Dh353m), and billionaire businessman Vijay Mallya, who snapped up Bangalore for a cool $111.6m, to Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, who purchased Kolkata ($75.09m) and Mohali ($76m) respectively – jumped at the opportunity to get a piece of this latest phenomenon.

It didn't stop there, the television rights for the IPL were sold for just over a $1-billion to Sony Entertainment Television in a 10-year deal earlier this year, while the Champions League 10-year rights were bought by ESPN for more than $950million recently.

If the victory in the final is narrowed down as the one moment responsible for revolutionising Twenty20 cricket for India, the one player responsible for the country's emergence as a formidable force would have to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni, according to Singh. Handed the reins of the inexperienced team in his debut endeavour as skipper, the wicketkeeper-batsman took to the task with aplomb.

"Without a doubt Mahendra made a difference," says the 26-year old Singh, who won the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award from the International Cricket Council (ICC) last month for hitting six sixes in an over at the World Cup.

"He has done a really good job being captain of India. He is so calm and composed in pressure situations and he kept the team together."

Ishant Sharma, who was nominated last month by the ICC for the Emerging Cricketer of the Year award, adds: "There is no such thing as seniors and juniors in the team. We do not feel like we are talking to seniors, it's like talking with our elder brothers...actually more like talking to our friends. We all laugh and share jokes."

With the 27-year old Dhoni's inspirational leadership and the IPL's development policy, India have built a foundation to continue their domination of Twenty20 for years to come.



The spin-offs

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

The brainchild of Lalit Modi, Vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the hugely successful Twenty20 tournament changed the landscape of the game.

Introducing a football-club style model where franchises were put up for auction as were top international players – the tournament's 10-year television rights were bought by Sony for a $1billion (Dh3.16bn).

Franchises such as Mumbai and Bangalore were sold for around $111-million apiece, while star players such as India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australia's Andrew Symonds earned contracts in excess of a million dollars.

The IPL is expected to generate the BCCI an income of over a $1bn over a period of five to ten years and Modi recently reported future franchises will sell for around $250m-$300m each.

The inaugural tournament began on April 18 with the Jaipur-based Rajesthan Royals winning the final on June 1.

INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE

When Zee Television lost out on bids for the Indian cricket team's television rights, Subhash Chandra, announced that the company had decided to start their own league – the ICL – against the wishes of the BCCI.

This concept was later taken and modified by Modi to create the IPL.

Due to the fact that the ICL league is not recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and not supported by the BCCI, several leading cricket boards, including India, have banned players who participate in the tournament.

Still, leading stars, such as retired West Indies great Brian Lara, are paid a $1-million fee for each tournament. ICL officials are set to meet with the ICC in the next month to discuss making the League official.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Another Modi idea. Building on the success of the IPL, the BCCI announced the 10-day tournament featuring eight clubs (two from India, Australia and South Africa and one apiece from England and Pakistan).

Set to begin on December 3, the 10-year television rights were bought by ESPN-Star for $950-million .

With twelve teams expected to take part next year, the Champions League may yet overshadow the IPL's successes in terms of global interest – especially if teams recruit stars.

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