Today, I enjoy watching Twenty20 more than when I did at the start of the ongoing World Cup. I can safely say it is growing on me. Earlier, I had watched the Twenty20 match in South Africa which was won by the heroics of Dinesh Karthick but it really needs a tournament like this for a person to see, evaluate and reach judgment. Today, I can see good points and bad points in the format which some days back only seemed to me to be 'circus cricket', for want of a better phrase.

India won its first match against Pakistan but the way the players approached the bowl-out was ridiculous. There were grins and winks all around as the players seemed to think they were playing the roles of clowns in a circus. No one really seemed to give any importance to the bowl-out. As it transpires now, the Pakistanis were not even aware of such a rule and got caught with their pants down. India seemed to be better prepared as was demonstrated by Sehwag, Bhajji and Uthappa but still, the flippant way in which both the Pakistanis and the Indians went about the bowl-out left a bad taste in the mouth. Did they really care who won; That was the question on my mind when the preparation for the bowl-out was going on; Or did they think the result was a tie and the bowl-out was just for spectator amusement?

Personally, I have my doubts on this form of cricket replacing the 50-over format simply because cricket enthusiasts would prefer to see a more even contest between bat and ball. This might continue to co-exist as its entertainment value is too high unless all bowlers get together and strike against Twenty20 and the batsmen are left to bowl to each other.

What has been eye-catching is the tremendous willow power exhibited by the batsmen and it needs to be emphasised time and again, that these batsmen are playing with normal bats and the bowlers are bowling with normal cricket balls and normal bowling speed and the grounds are all regular grounds where Test and ODI (50-over) cricket is played. When I see the number of sixes in the tournament approaching 200, I seriously get doubts on whether it is all an elaborate fake and that is the best part about this form of cricket; It isn't. It just shows what is possible!

While Gayle, Jayasurya, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Luke Wright have been having a gala time, the Pollocks and Sreesanths have been literally having a nightmare. Yesterday I watched poor old Joginder Singh take the stick; In his first over, he could have gotten a wicket but RP Singh slipped and tumbled on the boundary to deny him a certain wicket; In his second over, Yuvraj dropped a dolly at point. In his third over, a mis-hit looped tantalisingly over the mid-off fielder. It is the Joginders who might feel the pinch of Twenty20 cricket the most as they don't have the reputation to back them which a Pollock or Lee similarly hit, it would have to safeguard themselves. The records would not show the misses; They would show the statistics and Joginder's at the end of his 4 overs were not pretty. He might have come back in a 50-over game but that is not possible in a Twenty20. This line from the crickinfo article makes the point - India's bowlers didn't cover themselves with glory either, with Joginder Sharma having an especially poor game. He might well sit out on Thursday.

The biggest thrill for the crowds, apart from the sixes of course, would probably be the possibility of watching more than one match on the same day for the same admission fee. Twenty20 cricket being a fast game, even the current World Cup is featuring two matches on the same day at the same ground, spaced an hour or so apart. I feel that might really be a brilliant hit with the crowds.

Even otherwise, as fascinating it is to watch Yuvraj hits six sixes in an over, it is equally fascinating to watch Mohd. Asif bowl those unplayable deliveries even in a Twenty20 match. Probably with time, we will find newer and newer things to like in this new format but for now, if not loving the game, at least I no longer dislike it. That will do, for now! The thought that I could hate something about cricket was scary.