This Doodle (click screenshot to go to page), has been up in India for at least two days:
Well, you know what that means: something’s going on with the national sport. And if you click on the Doodle on the original page, it goes here: a webpage giving the ICC World Twenty20 cricket scores. Don’t ask me what the hell it is, but it appears to be a big event. Pardon my ignorance (I’ve never understood cricket, but Brits and Indians are baffled by baseball), so I’ll just regurgitate the events from the International Business Times:
India takes on Pakistan in the most anticipated clash of the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 as they look to bounce back from the opening game loss against New Zealand. The hosts will be staring down the barrel if they lose against their arch rivals at the famous Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata when the match gets underway at 2pm GMT/7.30pm IST
Pakistan, on the other hand, are coming into this game on the back of a thumping win over Bangladesh and will be confident and will be hoping that they can finally register a win over India in a World Cup event. The match is available live on TV all across the world but it is also available on a number of platforms on mobile and online. Below is a list of how you can watch it in different countries.
(Go to the site yourself for viewing information; Google has apparently removed a number of live-stream links as violating its terms of service.)
Readers who know and/or love cricket are invited to explain below.
Twenty20 (T20) is an attempt to make cricket more exciting.
It’s like the MLB deciding to hold a second tournament (it doesn’t replace “real” baseball) that is only three innings per match, each player gets five strikes instead of 3, and the center fielder has to stand inside the diamond. Basically, you’re going to get a lot more big hitting in a shorter space of time.
They did this in cricket by just shortening the game. That might sound strange you baseball followers, but remember – there’s only one innings, and a limited number of deliveries. Since any attacking shot has a risk of going out, you have to balance short term gain with a longer, slower strategy that nets a higher score overall.
The shorter the game, the more attractive the high-risk, high-reward shots become. Basically, it turns the game from a mental battle involving patience and control into a frantic hit-fest. It makes for good watching, especially for those new to the game.
If you grew up on cricket, though, you might feel that it’s not *real* cricket. Just like the baseball game I described above would probably sound all kinds of wrong to existing baseball fans, but seem a lot more accessible to me.
It’s the shortest and arguably the most accessible form of the game (1 innings of 20 overs per team). Check out the excellent Wiki article. In the World Cup, the few major cricketing nations are involved. Yesterday’s England/South Africa match was a real cracker. All forms of cricket are HUGE in India, and there is much anticipation around the India-Pakistan match today. It’s really a must-win for the hosts, India.
Must say I prefer the One Dayers myself or the Test Matches, especially against the old Enemy.
Now that it is on the cusp of spring time, I hear crickets in the evening.
Here are the basic rules of cricket:
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.
When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
With all those ins and outs, are you sure this isn’t a sex game?
Be assured this is a simplification of the game. English I played at school and I never understood how it all worked.
Who is on first, whats on second and I don’t know on third.
“Here are the basic rules of cricket:”
I was going to tell you that you should have written “Here are the ins and outs of cricket”, but then I began to wonder if this is where the expression “ins and outs” originated.
I love T20, especially as the current NZ team is doing really well. They not only had a big win against India in the opening game (which the hosts were supposed to win), they’ve since beaten the favourites Australia.
NZ and Aus have a big sporting rivalry – we’re a bit like India vs Pakistan but without the nukes. Anyway, it’s made NZ odds on favourite to win their pool and make it to the semi-finals.
T20 is very exciting, even if you’re not a cricket fan. I can’t wait for NZ’s next game!
Cricket used to be popular in the USA, and George Washington played.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_cricket
You can follow an over-by-over blog from The Guardian here: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2016/mar/19/india-v-pakistan-world-twenty20-live
Pakistan batted first, and did badly – rain delayed the start, so it was shortened to 18 overs per side, but 118 is not a good score (though the commentators say it’s a difficult wicket to score fast on – since the ball bounces before getting to the batsman, ground conditions really do make a difference in cricket).
India eventually won, passing Pakistan’s score with two and a half overs and six wickets to spare. Big relief for the hosts – it never does to go out of your own tournament early!
If you have the chance to do so while in India, get a DVD of the film “Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)”. After watching it, you will have understood cricket completely and learned to enjoy it! The film is also most enjoyable. It is part in Hindi and part in English – try to get a DVD that has Engish subtitles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagaan
I wonder when the “Hindutva” movement will feel strong enough to try to ban the sport as an “un-Indian” import (not to mention that it’s the sport of the colonial oppressors). Just goes to demonstrate how a foreign belief system can become a “meme” in a culture to the point where it becomes linked to culture’s feeling of self-worth and people are willing to riot over it. I heard a quote attributed to Hermann Goering once: “We can manufacture ideals like the Americans manufacture refrigerators and razor blades.”
I’ve never met anyone who is “baffled by baseball”