Hyderabad: Cricket has been under a constant revolution ever since its start. The sport started with timeless Tests. Then it was shortened to time-bound Tests, the sport was then trimmed down further with the arrival of the ODIs and soon the T20 format was introduced. However, to add the factor of uniqueness and lure spectators, various cricket boards have introduced the sport in different formats. Some of them have been tried in international cricket while some are yet to be approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The most recent example of such an unorthodox format is the MAX60 cricket played in West Indies.
Double wicket cricket: Double Wicket cricket remains one of the revolutionary formats and considering the period in which it was introduced it becomes more special. In the format, a pair of two players was considered as a team. After the format started, it became popular in 1990 when some of the top stars in international cricket participated in the format.
In a couple of World Championships between 1197 and 2003, some of the top cricketers participated in the tournament.
Winning pairs in some of the Double Wicket World Championships:
1997, Lahore – Shahid Afridi and Aaqib Javed
1998, Lahore – Shahid Afridi and Azhar Mahmood
2001, New Jersey – Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi
2001, Lahore – Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik
2003, St Lucia – Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori.
Beach Cricket: The format got a lot of popularity in a short time. Australia hosted the tournaments which featured retired cricketers across the globe. The players are from England, West Indies, New Zealand and South Africa also used to participate in the tournament. The tournament was sponsored by XXXX Gold beer brand. Allan Border, Graham Gooch, Sir
Courtney Walsh, Martin Crowe and Shaun Pollock led the teams for their respective teams.
Sir Curtly Ambrose, Denis Lillee, Sir Richard Hadlee, Graeme Hick, Sir Viv Richards, Allan
Donald, Mark Waugh, Lance Klusener, Stephen Fleming and Dean Jones also featured in the competition.
Summary of Beach Cricket Tri-Nation tournaments:
2007 – Winner: England, Runner-up: Australia, 3rd Place: West Indies
2008 – Winner: New Zealand, Runner-up: England, 3rd Place: Australia
2008 – Winner: South Africa, Runner-up: New Zealand, 3rd Place: Australia
Cricket Super Max
Cricket Super Max was a New Zealand domestic competition in the 1990s which was invented by former Blackcaps cricketer Martin Crowe. It was a T20 game divided into multiple innings. A trapezoid section down the ground on both sides was termed as ‘Max Zone’. The balls hit in this zone were earned double the score. It was close to becoming an international format and the New Zealand national team took on the international sides between 1997 and 2002.
Hong Kong International Sixes
The revolutionary format of the game was adopted by Hong Kong and the competition started in 1992 and featured top nations. Two teams of six players each will lock horns and each match will consist of five overs. In the final, an over will consist of eight balls instead of the usual 6. Every player on the field will bowl one over except for the wicketkeeper and there is a penalty of two runs for wide or no-ball. Also, batters are forced to retire after scoring 31 runs.
The Hundred
The Hundred was started by the England Cricket Board and the format has gained popularity across the globe. Eight teams are pitted against each other in the competition which has a set of five balls each to complete 100 balls. The format is yet to be played at the international level.
T10 cricket
The Abu Dhabi T10 is the premiere tournament in the T10 format where top cricketers around the world participate. A total of 8 teams participate in the tournament to clinch the title.
