Is Cricket going "The Football Way" ? What Impact will T20 Leagues Have on the Future of Cricket ?

T20 cricket , since its arrival , has taken the game of cricket to the next level . This newer format of cricket introduced fast paced matches , thrilling close counters , increased fun and excitement in the cricket world . The introduction of franchise Cricket , inspired from the club tournaments of football , only amplified the success of this already successful format . It's safe to say that this format has helped to spread Cricket around the globe way faster than ever .

 But , with the ever increasing presence of a variety of T20 leagues all over the world , will cricket in the future would look more like football , where franchise matches would take place more than international matches ? This post will try to analyse what will be the future of cricket .

The first ever T20 club tournament introduced was The T20 Blast by ECB. After the successful 2007 ICC T20 world cup , BCCI decided to cash in on the popularity of the format , resulting in the birth of Indian Premier League in 2008 , which has grown up to be the most popular club T20 tournament in the world.

Other boards also tried to replicate IPL's success , further resulting in tournaments like Big Bash league(2011) , Caribbean Premier League (2013) , Pakistan Super League(2016) , Bangladesh Premier League(2012) , Lanka Premier League (2019) , SA20(2022) , ILT20(2022) etc.

It is evident that the number of leagues has increased a lot since T20 Blast was introduced. The influence of club cricket was evident when BCCI managed to persuade ICC to increase the window of IPL , or when South Africa backed out of Australia ODI series to promote SA20 . 

Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri was supportive of the idea of cricket going "the football way" with club tournaments happening more frequently , with lesser international matches .

 Decline in competitiveness and less viewership in International bilaterals , along with lack of growth of cricket in associate nations has also contributed to T20 leagues sudden growth , as majority of these leagues have given platform to players from the associates to showcase their skills , and has further helped in growth of cricket , for example , The Knight Riders group (Kolkata Knight Riders)  promoted growth of cricket in USA by buying a cricket team in minor league cricket .

The bright side of these T20 leagues are that they bring more viewership to the sport , and money as well to cover the expenses of the cricket boards organising it . As both of these are important for the sport to survive , these leagues get more preference than bilateral series these days. We've also seen players retiring early from international duties or making themselves unavailable for selection to play more franchise cricket so that they can earn more , with examples like Ben Stokes , Dwyane Bravo and Andre Russell etc . 

This opinion might seem too harsh and controversial , but since popularity and money are very much important for a sport to thrive , T20 leagues will continue to grow , and may some day topple international cricket . The ICC are giving their best to ensure international cricket stays relevant , but if the viewers will continue to support T20 leagues , they will have to eventually give in , and in future we might see longer T20 leagues and another world T20 club tournament like the Champions League T20 , this time with more teams and a wider audience than before . And sadly , international cricket will reduce to friendlies and world cups , just like football . It's upto us wether we want cricket to maintain its speciality , or wether we want "The Football Way".

Thanks for reading this post ! The views  of the blog's author are his personal views, and the author does not intend to offend anyone . Any mistake is deeply regretted .