New Delhi: The evolution of Twenty20 cricket has had an huge impact on the way cricket is played these days. It's difficult to say if the evolution has happened for good or bad but the impact is very much visible.
The basics are still the same but the approach to all the three major aspects of cricket -- batting, bowling and fielding -- have gone through a huge transformation. Innovation is the buzzword. Fielders are taking catches that were unimaginable few years ago. Bowlers are experimenting with their lines and lengths like never before. But it's the batting that has seen the biggest change.
There is unparallel aggression. Risk-taking ability of the batsmen has touched the unprecedented heights. The region behind the stumps is no longer out of reach. We are fast reaching towards ‘360 degree’ cricket (AB de Villiers is already there).
Batsmen in classical mould, like Hashim Amla, have also shunned their shyness and started moving around the crease to manufacture shots.
Amla, who is playing for Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League T20 these days, played an astonishing knock to help his side recover from a difficult situation. In that innings, he hit 5 fours and 4 sixes to score at an strike rate of 150.
During his innings, he played several attractive shots but there was one that caught the attention. It was in the 19th over of the innings bowled by Barbados Tridents' Ravi Rampaul.
Amla moved across his stumps and looked to play a scoop over fine leg but Rampaul saw him early and bowled a very slow ball so that Amla couldn’t take the advantage of his pace. What Amla did after that will surprise you.
Here is the video: