New cricket format launched - (Source : Johns/X.com)
On Thursday, October 16, cricket legends AB de Villiers, Harbhajan Singh, Matthew Hayden, and Clive Lloyd unveiled a new cricket format, 'Test Twenty', that will debut early next year. Labelled as the 'Fourth Format', it is intended to unearth talents aged 13-19 and will feature a mix of both formats, the T20 cricket and Test cricket.
What is the new Test Twenty format and what are its features?
- Interestingly, the game has shifted from Test cricket to the shortest format of the game, and the legends, who are also part of the advisory board, have planned to club the two formats together.
- In this new format, a team will bat and bowl twice, and a total of 80 overs will be bowled in a single day.
- Interestingly, the matches will be played with red-ball, where it will follow the same rules as a Test, such as trail, lead, just the minute difference being that each innings will be just 20 overs long.
- Each team can take a four-over-long Powerplay once in the match and can enforce the follow-on with a first-innings lead of 75 runs or more. A maximum of five bowlers may be used across the match, with each bowler allowed to bowl a maximum of eight overs.
Test Twenty architect speak on the exciting new format
Speaking at the format launch on Thursday, architect of the Fourth Format, Gaurav Bahirvani, said,
“ “We’ve combined Test cricket with T20 and fused them into a format that gives today’s generation what they crave, which is intensity with meaning. If you look around, there is not a single, unifying platform to bring youth cricketers together. Every country has its own system, but you haven’t ever seen kids between 13 and 19 playing together as a part of a single franchise. That multicultural feel, like the IPL, with the kids will be a wonderful new introduction into the world of cricket,” remarked Gaurav Bahirvani.
Notably, the new format is likely to launched in January. Further, Lloyd, Hayden, AB de Villiers, and Harbhajan are all members of the Test Twenty advisory board,
