World exclusive - T20 in Olympics? Let’s aim for 2020

120,000 devoted fans at the ground and 3.9 billion worldwide television viewers nervously await the one remaining ball in the gold medal match between India and Pakistan. India has scored a respectable 218 in its 20-overs and Pakistan requires four to win and to become Olympic champion. Spin-wizard Piyush Chawla takes a deep breath and prepares to bowl the ball that stands between him and Olympic gold immortality.

Chawla sends down a perfectly flighted leg-break that whirs as it pitches just outside the line of leg stump. Nasir Jamshed, Pakistan’s champion middle-order batsman is deceived by the flight and plays around the ball while trying to work the delivery forcefully down to deepsquare. The spinning cherry spits the middle and the leg stumps, the bails fly and India is the Olympic champion.

This may seem like a pipe dream but it is a potential reality. It doesn’t matter where the 2020 Olympic Games are held but many of us who’ve experienced international Twenty20 cricket and the IPL are convinced that cricket should bid to become an Olympic sport in time for the 2020 Olympic Games, wherever they’re held.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics, when Great Britain beat France.

But with Twenty20 cricket here to stay, now is the time for the 10 full member-nations of the ICC to plan for the development of the sport over the next 100 years. Over the next century, the challenge for all of us who love the game is to spread the word of cricket to parts of the globe that have never heard of it and currently don’t play our sport. We have a responsibility to grow our game in new territories and amongst the women of the world. I believe the Olympic Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations, so our sport is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played and exciting and ground-breaking in countries who haven’t yet caught the ‘cricket-bug’.

The IPL has been such a success and has changed cricket forever. I saw the revolution first-hand during my time in Hyderabad.

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India through to the semis

Team Young India has a point to prove and they are well on their way to proving it in the best possible manner. India's victory over hosts South Africa and subsequent entry into the semi-finals is a boost for new captain Dhoni and a shot in the arm for the youngsters who have demonstrated tremendous courage and determination. They are now in a position of strength against an Australian that has seemed vulnerable in this tournament with its two losses. If Young India can defeat them, it will set the stage for a tour that is going to be extremely hard fought because the Australians are known to pick themselves up from their defeats and come back on top.

But, what happens if they lose? There aren't too many people expecting them to win against Australia and a loss will not be very hard to digest. However, what they must be congratulated for is the fact that they have reached the semi-finals after bowing out from the World Cup not so long ago. The old guard is going to put down their bats soon and competition is fierce for the lucre that has come to be associated with the sport.

But, all that remains to be said at the end is, "We did it!!!"

India win the England Test Series

It was only the third time in India's test playing history that it won a series in England. The scorecard could of course, have been better. But, who's complaining? Definitely, not the Indian team who in the recent past has surrounded with much controversy and an inability to win abroad. However, a coach-less Indian team seems to be doing much better when compared to its performance when being managed by a coach who nearly tore the fabric of Indian cricket apart.

It is a test that could probably be the swansong of the old guard and they have turned in a magnificent performance. Anil Kumble not only took a good number of wickets but finally achieved that elusive test century.

To be fair, the England team also put in a good show but at the end of the day, they are the losing side and that is how history will remember them. Fine performances notwithstanding, the Indian tigers were able to tame the English lions.

All in all, it has been a scorching summer for England.