Understanding T20: a conversation with Hassan Cheema

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Our special guest this week is Hassan Cheema, the strategy manager at Islamabad United – the Pakistan Super League champions in 2016 and 2018.

Hassan talks about the rapidly evolving T20 format and gives us a peek into what franchises are doing to stay ahead of the curve. Having observed some of the top T20 players first-hand, Hassan brings forth the complexities of the game and the challenges involved in managing a team.

Talking Points:

• How West Indies revolutionized the approach to T20s
• The overwhelming importance of the toss
• Measures used to judge a T20 batsman
• The flexible batting order and how best to use an anchor
• Unlearning the lessons from red ball cricket
• Retiring out batsmen and tactical drops
• What constitutes a good over in T20?
• Tactics v execution: the tightrope walk
• How one builds a player's trust and the need to go beyond cricket
• The unquantifiable value of some fielders
• The grammar of T20 and what TV can do better

Participants:

Hassan Cheema (@mediagag)

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)

Related:

The flexible team - Tim Wigmore - ESPNcricinfo

How to watch a T20 game - Sidharth Monga - ESPNcricinfo

Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution - Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde - Amazon.com

'If you go searching for wickets in T20, you're playing into the batsman's hand' - Samuel Badree interview - ESPNcricinfo

T20 openers are more conservative than they need to be - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo

Is a single in T20 the same as a dot ball in ODIs? - Kartikeya Date - ESPNcricinfo