Cricket's Old And New On Show As County Championship And IPL Collide
Cricket's versatility was on graphic display as the latest editions of the snow-hit English County Championship, a fixture in the sport since 1890, and the 21st-century Indian Premier League both
South Africa's AB de Villiers smashed a quickfire 48 as Royal Challengers Bangalore prevailed in a last-ball IPL thriller against the Mumbai Indians in Chennai on Friday.
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Fewer than 24 hours later and it was not just the players' uniforms that were white, with a thick blanket of snow stopping pay during a Championship match between Yorkshire and Glamorgan at Headingley.
One thing the IPL and the Championship do have in common is that both are presently being played behind closed doors because of coronavirus restrictions.
These have also deprived the IPL of its customary cheerleaders celebrating boundaries -- polite applause usually suffices in the Championship.
India captain Virat Kohli, the Bangalore skipper, said he "felt like home" after last year's edition of the IPL took place in the United Arab Emirates due to the pandemic.
But even before it had been confirmed India would contest the inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand in England in June, Kohli had insisted he still regarded five-day cricket as the "purest format of the game".
Nevertheless, the IPL, a Twenty20 franchise tournament now in its 14th edition, has had a profound effect on increasing the already commanding economic importance of cricket-loving India, the world's second-most populous nation, to the global game.
