The T20 World Cup will pose questions for both world cricket and those who run the sport in India

As the T20 World Cup unfolds in Sri Lanka, the International Cricket Council (ICC)`s administrative logic will be under the scanner. Is two years a meaningful interval between World Cups or has the ICC diluted the World Cup brand by staging them much too frequently?
Will the crowds embrace yet another World Cup in the subcontinent and will we see as much interest in India for an India-Pakistan game (which is likely to be on September 30) as we had seen for the 50-over World Cup semi-final in Mohali a year earlier? Will the broadcasters generate enough revenue from the competition to justify the millions spent on rights? What impact will the competition have on the edifice of the global game?
Interestingly, a moderately successful T20 World Cup will not be the most satisfactory answer for the ICC.It will lead to an immediate comparison with the glitz and glamour of the IPL and the massive crowd support for IPL season 5 won by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Unless the craze for the T20 World Cup equals that of the IPL, the argument that the ICC has ceded control of this format to the Indian domestic league will only gather strength. And with Sri Lanka and the West Indies refusing to play Test matches in their bilateral series scheduled for May 2013 to accommodate players` demands of playing the full version of IPL season 6, there is enough reason for the ICC to feel alarmed.
For Indian cricket too, the situation is far from ideal. Sample this: If the T20 World Cup generates tremendous spectator and viewer interest in India and elsewhere and if the forthcoming Test series against England is played to half-filled stadiums, it strengthens the argument that India continues to consume spectacles and hasn`t yet developed a composite appreciation for all forms of the game. And if that`s the case the tag of India being cricket`s global nerve centre will soon be in question.
In other words, is financial strength enough to make India the centre of global cricket? Finally, if we throw into the mix the ailing economies of some IPL teams and the staggering losses they continue to sustain, what does it tell us of the health of Indian cricket going forward?
There`s little doubt the next six months are of great significance for Indian cricket. A poor Indian performance in the T20 World Cup will mean the season starter hasn't fulfilled expectations. It might have a spiralling effect on the rest of the season. On the other hand, a great Indian victory will pose a serious challenge to the forthcoming Test series against England and Australia. The question then will be — Is Test cricket in India really in good shape? It is a peculiar catch-22 and it will be interesting to see how the administrators negotiate this super over.
The situation for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is further complicated by ground realities in England and Australia. In Australia, the inaugural season of the Big Bash, which was extremely well attended, did not have any perceptible impact on Test match attendance. This des-pite the Big Bash overlapping with the India-Australia Test series in December-January 2011-12.
In fact, the first match of the Big Bash was played to a crowd of 24,000 at the MCG while the first day of the Boxing Day Test at the same venue was attended by well over 70,000 people. The total Boxing Day Test attendance spread over all the five days was an unprecedented 2,00,000-plus. At the same time, each and every Big Bash match was also attended by well over 20-25,000 people drawing attention to a composite appreciation for the game in Australia.
England was hardly different. Each of the four Test matches played between India and England in July-August 2011 were played to packed crowds despite the series being acutely one sided. Interestingly, Test match attendance had no impact on the one-dayers and T20s that followed, which, yet again were played to capacity crowds.
In India, the situation is radically different. Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which has always supported Test cricket, was near empty when India played the West Indies in November 2011, despite tremendous anticipation over Sachin Tendulkar`s 100th international hundred. There were no more than 10,000-12,000 people on any of the five days at the Eden Gardens.
Compare it to the IPL and the contrast is evident. Each of the Kolkata Knight Riders matches, played in the searing heat of April-May, had 60,000-plus fans cheering for Shah Rukh Khan and Gautam Gambhir, lending credence to the argument that we are a nation that consumes spectacles and not sport.
In the next six months, Indian cricket will be facing a serious test both on and off the field. While M S Dhoni will need to do all he can on the field to eclipse the nightmares of England and Australia and bring India`s Test performance back on track, the BCCI will have to do everything possible to ensure Test cricket continues to have takers in India.
And with the ICC facing its own challenges, there is little doubt that season 2012-13 is of paramount significance for global cricket. Debates over DRS and day-night Tests pale in significance when pitted against the challenges at hand.
Time, then, to call play both on and off the field.
The writer is senior research fellow, University of Central Lancashire.