Shahid Afridi looks back on the impact of the Indian Premier League in 2008

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi is one of the leading all-rounders in world cricket. He was one of the players that took part in the inaugural Indian Premier League this year which established Twenty20 cricket as a global phenomenon.

Cricket in 2008:

The IPL was a high-quality and fiercely competed tournament which was thoroughly enjoyed by anyone and everyone who was associated with it, be it the players, organizers, spectators and print and electronic media. The IPL provided an excellent opportunity to the players from different parts of the globe to share the same hotel, team bus and especially the dressing room in which they talked and discussed about their understanding of the game, approach towards the game and preparations for any match.

The inaugural IPL season had everything to offer to the players who will enter the second season with a better idea how to convert good preparations into good performances.

Cricket in 2018:

There is no doubt IPL will be one of the major events in the next 10 years, an event every player would like to be involved with and as far as I see things it is just a matter of time when the administrators will be forced to create a window for it. Striking the right balance between Tests, ODIs and Twenty20 is the key to the survival of all the three formats and if it is not dealt professionally now, I fear there will be more Twenty20, less Tests and almost no ODIs. The future of Test cricket is safe but I am concerned about the ODIs. The new powerplays rule has been introduced and I wouldn’t be surprised if further dressing is done to the outlook of ODI to make it more competitive, spectator friendly and financially viable. In this context, I think the pundits may consider the option of replacing one 50 overs innings with two innings of 25 each and the grand total at the end of 50 overs setting the target for the team batting last.