BCCI lets in Twenty20; adopts women?s cricket

PRESSURE CAN get to the most influential. It has finally made world cricket's richest and most powerful board adopt Twenty20 cricket. The BCCI working committee ? which met on Sunday ? announced that India would participate in the Twenty20 World Cup to be held next year in South Africa, and that the board would introduce the format in domestic cricket from April.

PRESSURE CAN get to the most influential. It has finally made world cricket's richest and most powerful board adopt Twenty20 cricket. The BCCI working committee — which met on Sunday — announced that India would participate in the Twenty20 World Cup to be held next year in South Africa, and that the board would introduce the format in domestic cricket from April.

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Till now, the BCCI had made no secret of its derision for the format. It had felt the splash-and-dash spectacle that Twenty20 offers would not appeal to the Indian public. There was another fear: that Twenty20 could make one-day cricket redundant.

But deprived of support for its cause — the BCCI was outvoted in the ICC meeting — the board had no option but to accept the much-vaunted format.
"We opposed the format but were forced to yield to the pressure as the overwhelming majority of members were in favour of it," said N. Srinivasan, BCCI treasurer. "And now that we've decided to participate in the Twenty20 World Cup, there's no point in doing so half-heartedly. Therefore, we've decided to introduce Twenty20 in domestic cricket for players' acclimatisation to the format."

The meeting also decided that the Women Cricket Association of India (WCAI) will merge with the BCCI. "From now onwards, it's mandatory for every state association to have a women's wing," said Srinivasan. "In the interim period, till the union takes place, the board will support them — that is, we'll fully fund their tour to England this year."