Pinnacle of Twenty20 glory

Unheralded they arrived. A new captain with just over a couple of years of cricket under his belt. A team that was refreshingly young. None(including me) gave them a chance. The odds were heavily against them. But they feared not. They played their cricket magnificently and in the most daring of fashions. Won the first ever bowl-out in T20 cricket, decimated England, packed South Africa out of the tournament, denied Australia a place in the final and made a place for them in the hearts of millions of Indians by winning the first ever World Twenty20 Cricket Championships. Congratulations Dhoni and Co.

Well played Pakistan too. What a final it was! After a long time, a major cricket final wasn't decided till the last ball.

Twenty20 cricket too was a winner. Unpredictability was conspicuous by its absence in the last few ODI world cups. But not this one. After a long time, a major cricket tournament unfolded in the most exciting, dramatic and unpredictable of ways. This made it one of the most memorable tournaments in recent times. Cricket, probably, never had it better.

Who's responsible?

Cricket, yesterday, became literally a poorer game with India's quick exit from the world cup. A nation that is quite literally running the game world over with its amazing revenue generation abilities, is rendered helpless by two nations whose combined contribution to the 'growth' of the game is not even a fraction of India's. And ICC looks on helplessly. Such overwhelming irresponsibility!

And as always, the blame has fallen on the wrong people. What can the poor Indian team do? Why should some of them resign? They should not. Instead, a committee should be formed to probe why Jayawardene went on to win the match despite knowing the grave fiscal consequences such an action would have on the "gentleman's" game.

And, even more arrogant was the behavior of the Bangladesh team. How can they be allowed to beat a nation that is cricket's lifeline? What will Bangladesh gain by going to next round or even further? On the contrary, India's exit will cause huge losses to the Indian corporate sector. With rising inflation and with fears of an economic slowdown, this is the least India would have wanted. For their reckless attitude, Bangladesh team should be severely punished.

And finally, ICC should take more responsibility and make all teams sign an agreement that will ensure no more early exits for team India. If these precautions are not taken soon, unprecedented disaster is in store for the 'growth' of the game.