By John Robbie
I have never been a fan of T20, 20/20, Pro20 or whatever it is now called. It has everything to do with fear. Yes, genuine concerns exist about the effect it will have on established cricket but there is also a lingering fear that just maybe I'm not a fan because I'm scared I might enjoy it. What a come down that would be.
Then along came the IPL. South Africa was offered - and accepted - the daunting task of hosting, in a couple of weeks, what would normally have taken a year to organise. It was an opportunity to show what we as a country can do to save the day. We are the US Cavalry coming over the hill, except this time it is the Indians that are being rescued. The country is on show so we should all be behind the competition as we should for the Confederations Cup, the Lions tour, the Champions Trophy and 2010. Suddenly it is not just about sport. Suddenly we cannot ignore it.
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For no great reason, other than thinking the city deserved a bit of luck after the recent attacks, I decided early on to support the Mumbai Indians. This week they played the Deccan Chargers in Durban so I went.
My first impression was one of age. The stadium was packed overwhelmingly with young families. The second thing was the noise. It was blaring "doef-doef" music almost non-stop. In fact noise is the defining feature of this type of cricket. You even get commentators on the big screen telling you what you have just seen, will see and how it all is fantastic. I like to make up my own mind.
The next thing is that 20 overs is actually much longer than it seems. There is actually still time to build an innings, to defend a good over and to accelerate scoring. In short, there is still a competition and not just a lottery as many had feared. The Chargers' start with Gilchrist and Gibbs was exciting but it was also skilled and not just wild and uncontrolled.
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