Come 1996, the Indian economy had kick-started its journey into the open economic frenzy under Premier P. Narasimha Rao and the British cricketing empire was fast dwindling – England-dominated cricket was losing its popular appeal. 

The sport was looking for a difference to create a vast global market for its survival; international cricket was in need of a new shake in its long historical evolution.

Then, galvanised by the belittling that had been experienced at the hands of the Aussies Down Under in 1995-’96, the little Sri Lankans, with the ‘accidental introduction’ of the Sanath-Kalu opening salvo in the white-ball format, had already brought about the perfect recipe for that historic transition.

The Indian subcontinent hosting the 1996 World Cup and Sri Lanka retaliating against the same ‘snooty’ Aussies in the tournament final, with the little-known Jayasuriya emerging as the explosive ‘Player of the Series,’ provided just what cricket had wanted then – the right thing at the right time and right place.

The 1996 World Cup heralded a new era. It rejuvenated a billion of the populace in the subcontinent, shifting cricket’s economic epicentre from an England-Australian domination to an Indian supremacy (which was seen to culminate in later years).

The little Sri Lankans found the way with their irrational yet extremely exciting spectacle of play.

There is no turning back. What followed in the coming years was the concise, exciting three-hour T20 format, the global profit-oriented franchise leagues, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) that sealed the deal for India. 

At present;

1. International cricket is a fully-fledged professional endeavour with modernist ‘international’ boundaries blurring
2. Cricketers are no longer mere players but regional superstars akin to Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, or Shah Rukh Khan
3. The real, overt cricket economy turned subservient to a more complex, covert underworld economy
4. Thus betting became a norm and overwhelming match-fixing followed naturally
5. Corporate tycoons thirsty for nothing but filthy lucre turned out to be cricket’s administrators 
6. The sport’s traditional spectators became participants of an edge-of-the-seat (TV) action drama, fancied not by any modernist meaningfulness but shallow, temporary fun – mere entertainment

The above points formed an ideal platform for a whole new era – cricket’s postmodernism.

(In Part 5 next week – a further insight into what is ‘postmodern cricket’)