Sunil Gavaskar was rather skeptical about the 100-ball format of the tournament, despite the first game being a thriller.
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Former Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar recently made a rather controversial statement regarding the new England-based domestic cricket tournament called The Hundred. Gavaskar said that the tournament was insipid. He was rather sceptical about the 100-ball format of the tournament, despite the first game between the women’s teams of the Oval Invincibles and the Manchester Originals being a thriller. The men’s games have also seen a few nail-biting encounters. However, it was not something that Gavaskar was entirely impressed by. He also mentioned that the level of cricket in the tournament was below what he had expected, and termed it ‘ordinary’.
“Having seen it on TV, the only word that comes to mind is insipid. The cricket is ordinary and the coverage average with basic mistakes in player information which, if made in the sub-continent, would have been mocked at especially by the former England players, not to speak of the headlines that the tabloids would have generated,” Gavaskar asserted.
“The former players are raving about the crowds but here too as yet the fierce loyalty of the franchise fans is not seen. Maybe, the experience at the ground is different but as far as first impressions go, it’s not been a great one,” he added.
He would then go on to draw a comparison between the Hundred and the Indian Premier League (IPL). He said that, unlike the IPL, the Hundred had failed to deliver a fantastic start. The IPL’s first match saw New Zealand batter Brendon McCullum score a humongous 158 runs. The tournament is celebrated as the best domestic cricketing event in the world and it has taken place every single year since 2008.
“Unlike the IPL, which was given a vertical take-off by Brendon McCullum’s incredible innings in the very first match, The Hundred hadn’t quite got that and so may take a little more time to get the hearts of the spectators,” Gavaskar said.
The Hundred had gotten underway on July 21 after a year-long delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new format that was introduced by the England Cricket Board (ECB) has received mixed reviews from fans and experts. While some have hailed it for its speed and excitement, others said that they were not satisfied.
However, the tournament has produced some incredible matches so far. The format of the games in it is very unorthodox. Each innings will have a maximum of 100 balls. The change of ends will happen once every 10 balls. One bowler can bowl either five or 10 deliveries in a row, and bowl a maximum of 20 balls in one match. The non-striker must return to their original crease if the striker is caught out, and no-balls cost two runs instead of one.
While the games might be exciting, it is true that the quality is not something one would expect when seeing an England-based cricket competition of this level. The new rules can also be confusing for fans as most are used to the regular format of cricket, and are yet to wrap their heads around the new one.
