Ever since England and Australia competed in a rain hit fifth and final day of a test match in England in early seventies for 100 overs, with each side batting for 50 overs, to treat a holiday crowd, Cricket underwent a big transformation.This match entertained the spectators to the maximum and radicalised the thoughts of the cricket administrators.
Evolution of cricket:-
Cricket did not have any uniformity for quite a long time. This was because Australia and England, the two cricketing super-powers for long, were always at the opposite ends with regard to the implementation of playing conditions - while England strived to display an image of upholder of conservative and relaxed style of cricket, Australia wanted to give an impression that it wanted to change the style of cricket to tune it to the changing tastes of the public-a rebel with a cause. However until the advent of the packer series brand of cricket, Australian cricket was also time-consuming and not so appealing. Thus there were different playing conditions in the two spheres of the globe-In Australia, the number of balls in an over were eight, there was no rest day in a test match and cricket in England and the Asian countries was played on a conservative note with the number of balls in an over being six and there was always a rest day on the fourth day of a test match. Even in one-day cricket there were different playing conditions in that Australia played with 50 overs a side and in day-night fixtures and England played with 60 overs a side and day fixtures only. Even the 1983 prudential world cup was played with 60 overs a side and hence that Indian Victory in the final should be considered all the more important. With the changing times the paying public started showing more interest in shorter version of the game and hence the one-day matches began to acquire more prominence than tests. Hence the test playing nations started playing all competitions like World cup and triangular events in the one-day format. Though a World test Championship was launched, nobody could keep track of it, unless and until they were published in the sports columns.
Some probable reasons for the emergence of twenty-twenty format and its distinct advantages:-
1) Though the one-day formats had all the ingredients of a thriller and some of them did in fact throw up some heart stopping moments, over the years, they became very predictable. The logic used to be that the first fifteen overs were crucial to any side, whether defending a total or chasing it, because of the fielding restrictions - only two men are to be placed outside the 30-yard circle. After that, it will be a period of consolidation on the starts provided and batsmen shifted their gears drastically and slowed down the things by going for singles and twos and keeping their wickets intact and thus the matches sometimes resembled some boring test match situations, where the batsmen used to defend for hours together without being too productive. In the final five overs the batsmen again shifted their gears and the spectators came out of their yawning moods. So the twenty-twenty version evolved by taking out these twenty overs of blitzkrieg nature from the fifty overs games and hence it is bound to be scintillating and nerve wracking.
2) The surge in economic conditions in all the test playing nations from the late eighties and early nineties allowed for the growth of Television as the most important source of entertainment and the sponsors could reach out with their products, straight into the drawing rooms of the burgeoning middle class, who were already having options like continuing their craze for cricket or viewing other important events like Football league, Hockey tournaments and Rugby leagues. This did not allow for boredom and consumption of valuable time as there was a situation that if the public did not like a particular sport for any reason, they could easily find an alternative source of entertainment. So brevity was the need of the hour and on that count the fifty overs games did not provide an answer, though modifications like changing from day fixtures to day-night fixtures were made to suit the timings of the office-going public. Twenty-twenty will definitely provide an answer to this onslaught of other sports.
3) It is now a known fact that utilization of the fielding restrictions in the first fifteen overs to score maximum runs was done by cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shahid Afridi and Nathan Astle and all of these have either retired or in the twilight of their careers and hence to make things remain on the same platter, the Sponsors require only twenty overs to make cricket appealing and should not allow things to drift when new comers start taking the centre-stage. So there will be no dearth of sponsors for cricket.
4) Cricket started borrowing heavily from some of the rules of football and Hockey-like allowing for twelfth player to bat, introducing a bowl-out to decide the winner in the twenty-twenty format etc, to make it appear equally competitive and enhance its role as a crowd-puller. So twenty-twenty will make cricket definitely reach a level playing field with football and hockey and transform it into a new and important version of cricket with unbridled enjoyment for four hours and without being an unnecessarily aggressive, blood spilling and cold- shouldering sport like football or hockey, provided the bowlers do not deliberately collide with the batsmen while they are taking a run.

Probable Disadvantages of the twenty-twenty format and some suggestions:-
1) Cricket is not like football or Hockey. It was always played in a relaxed manner and on a lengthy holiday period in the vast English landscapes and hence this was and continues to be a perfect gentleman’s game. It retains this pristine image even now and thus survived in its conventional form though its offshoots like one-day cricket and twenty- twenty cricket tried to usurp its centre-stage. So with twenty-twenty, cricket starts appearing like a pale imitation of football and hockey and there is a danger of annihilation of the sport due to flight of the spectators to original versions of entertainment. It should evolve its own distinct rules independent of the other sports like- allowing for an extra over to decide the winner but not without the batsmen and the fielders.
2) The possibility of bowlers dominating or at least playing their due role is bleak as they are left with just four overs to show their talent and it is an accepted fact that any pace bowler or spinner needs some overs to warm up or loosen their muscles and by the time they reach that stage their quota will be completed. Thus an important segment of the game is in danger of being completely underperforming. So the bowlers should be allowed to bowl at least six overs.
3) There will be a steep increase in the injury rate of the star players and also quick flagging of the players during the course of the match and hence the matches may be played without good quality players on many occasions and the best answer to this problem is to create a pool of talented players, all with ages less than 28 and rotate the places in the team between them to keep them fresh and energetic.

India’s chances of success in the twenty-twenty format:-
Indian cricketers always bowled; fielded and batted well in the first fifteen overs of the one-day game and it is the final ten overs stage that proved to be their nemesis always. India has proved to be a success of late and the onus rests on the new crop of cricketers to take it to dizzy heights.