WITH GREAT power comes great responsibility. Let’s recall the classic cricketing days --- A batsman was told to go up in the order if he performed well in the previous match. In match number 18, between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils, Yusuf Pathan came to bat at number seven. Warne tampered with his batting position. Wasn’t it a bit surprising? Didn’t he perform well in the previous match? I guess he was the superhero. He made possible the win against KKR in the super over.

But, where has the traditional cricket culture gone? Is it a wake-up call for all traditional cricket lovers? Hang on, it’s just a new format of cricket and the captains are very much interested in strategy and innovation.

The IPL has shown a new opening: The two matches, KKR vs. RCs and King XI and Mumbai XI, played consecutively, were scored low in total. But they were very entertaining. The strategies were amazing, the deliveries were magical and the catches were thrilling. This shows that T20 is not just about huge sixes.

This format seems to be like snakes and ladders. You never know when a snake bites you and you come down. However, you don’t lose hope because you know this can happen with your opponent as well. In this format, there is a thin difference between right and wrong. And it’s hard to understand where did I go wrong in my calculations? And this new strategic break – ‘time out’ seems to be like a 99 number snake for a batsman.

Finally, T20 is not ‘Mickey Mouse cricket’. It requires great skill to hit such long sixes, greater skill to deliver a dot ball and requires adept fielding to hold on to catches in a highly tense situation.

Apart from this, it’s a market-driven sport wherein investors have invested huge amounts of money. And, obviously, Mukesh Ambani, Vijay Mallya and many others are true businessmen. They are more interested in their investment rather than winning or losing. There is no question about the greatness of the game. However, there is a huge responsibility on each and every player to make things pleasant for investors as well. A player should feel ready to take on new responsibility. I guess this ‘R factor’ is missing, especially from Kolkata Knight Riders. I wish they would realise soon that “with great power comes great responsibility.”