Test Twenty, cricket’s newest format, is all set to make its debut next year. This format will combine Test cricket and T20s and is intended for youth cricketers aged 13 to 19. A Test Twenty match will see teams play four innings of twenty overs each. Players will don white jerseys, and the matches will be played with a red ball. Matches will be completed in a single day.
The format has received backing from former cricketers like AB de Villiers, Sir Clive Lloyd, Matthew Hayden, and Harbhajan Singh. The tournament will combine two formats, with a few rule changes. Each team gets one Powerplay during the match, which lasts for four overs in a row. During this time, only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. If the team batting second falls behind by 75 or more runs after the first innings of both teams, the team that batted first can enforce a follow-on. A team can use up to five different bowlers throughout the match, with each bowler allowed to bowl a maximum of eight overs in total. The match can end in a win, a loss, a tie, or a draw.
The format has been designed by sports entrepreneur Gaurav Bahirvani, Executive Chairman of The One One Six Network. At the launch event, Gaurav 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 have never 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.”
Test Twenty Advisory Board – Clever Lloyd, Matthew Hayden, AB de Villiers, and Harbhajan Singh
Lloyd, Hayden, de Villiers, and Harbhajan are the members of the advisory board of the tournament. These cricketers showed their excitement for this new format and said it will act as a bridge between formats and new generations of the game.
“What excites me most is the real creative freedom that this format brings to the party. It lets players completely express themselves but also think differently and take the kind of risks that make cricket so beautiful. Beyond that, it also teaches balance. You need to have the ability to survive across two innings,” de Villiers said during the launch event that took place on October 16.
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