How times have changed

“The BCCI members had resolved in a working committee meeting recently that they were not happy with the Twenty20 version and will not play it.” This was Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar’s stance three years ago, when the Indian team’s participation in the inaugural edition of the World Twenty20 championship itself was in doubt.

Back then, the bigwigs in the board considered the format a bit of a joke. England might have needed T20 to “bring crowds back to the grounds” but India did not, was the general theme (and anyway, they whispered, the fast-paced nature of the game, with just a 10-minute break, didn’t lend itself to advertising revenue).

As Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team prepare to start their title defence, it’s hard not to chuckle at how, and how much, the board’s posturing on the game’s shortest format has changed.

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‘Coaching a Twenty20 side is a challenge’

In his playing days, Greg Shipperd used to be a stubborn batsman who would occupy the crease for hours, scoring patiently.

To put it in his own words, his batting style was about “hanging around and not getting out”. “A sixer for me would be if I’m able to cross the 30-yard circle,” the Australian laughs, when asked how he would’ve played Twenty20. Shipperd is now the head coach of IPL2’s most successful team so far, Delhi Daredevils, who also boast of some of the biggest hitters, but the 52-year-old doesn’t find it ironic.

“You have to go with the flow; there is change in the game of cricket and if I have played like that,

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After Indian Premier League success, DJ Warner wants to shake up World T20

He is the team’s official DJ playing a selection of rock, pop, jazz and blues in the team bus; he’s also a jester of sorts, keeping the team in good spirits. Apart from that, he beats Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori in card games every night here, tees off with conviction and surfs as well as any Australian on the beach.

But it’s when David Warner walks in to bat that the buzz really catches on in the Delhi Daredevils dug-out.

The diminutive Australian left-hander has drawn a lot of attention since his T20 debut for Australia, and has also impressed since filling in for the injured Virender Sehwag at the top of the order in the IPL.

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