Understanding T20: a conversation with Hassan Cheema

Click here to support 81allout on Ko-Fi 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