The Hundred vs T10: Which format has more impact on cricket’s future? Let’s explore whether the game should be shortened even further.
While T20 cricket is ruling the roost, two other shorter formats of the game are looking to make inroads and edge ahead. T10 cricket and The Hundred – though not as popular as T20 cricket – have been in the cricketing world for a few years, but have not been able to command the same headlines as the 20-overs format of the game.
What is The Hundred?
Organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board, The Hundred, as the name implies, is a format where hundred balls are bowled in each innings. However, there are 20 overs but five balls per over. It is played during July and August every year. Eight city-based teams – seven based out of England, and the eighth out of Wales, compete for the trophy.
Apart from England’s domestic and international stars, overseas players such as New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, and Tim Southee, South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen, Australia’s Adam Zampa, and Steven Smith, and West Indies’s Akeal Hosein played in the latest season of The Hundred.
What is T10 cricket?
The first competition to use this format was T10 League, which is now known as Abu Dhabi T10, in 2017. Since then, many competitions using this format of 10 overs per innings have taken place across the cricketing world. Cricket West Indies started a T10 competition known as The 6ixty in 2022.
In India, a tennis ball cricket league of 10 overs each innings known as the Indian Street Premier League was held in 2024. Other cricket leagues based on this format include Celebrity Cricket League, European Cricket League, US Masters T10 League, and Lanka T10.
In this format, each side bowls 10 overs that include 6 balls per over. In such leagues, popular celebrity or former cricket stars are seen plying their trade, and hence, it manages to grab eyeballs.
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Pros of The Hundred and T10 cricket
Less time consuming
The Hundred lasts 2.5 hours, while T10 is around 90 minutes. It takes less time to wrap up these formats compared to the popular T20 cricket. The rationale behind this format is to compete with other popular sports such as football that gets wrapped up in less than two hours. T20 cricket, however, can go on for 3.5 to 4 hours or even more.
Therefore, these two shorter formats can appeal to fans who can binge on sports after work hours, and still manage to reach home on time for bed.
Less logistical challenges
As the format is shorter in both The Hundred and T10 cricket, there is overall less time taken to complete a match. Hence, back-to-back double-headers are organised on match days. For example, The Hundred sees both men’s and women’s games played back-to-back, and a spectator can see both the matches on a single ticket. Therefore, the overall duration of the tournament of such formats is relatively less compared to T20 cricket tournaments.
Indian Premier League 2025 featured 10 teams, and had to be spread over four months – March to June – after the tournament was halted mid-way due to conflict between India and Pakistan. Eventually, it became a logistical nightmare to reschedule the games, and bring the tournament to a conclusion.
On the other hand, The Hundred 2025, took less than a month. With a shorter tournament, it becomes logistically easier to organise such a competition. Moreover, the fans’ interest stays intact till the very end.
Cons of The Hundred and T10 cricket
Shorter formats bring more complexity
Reducing the game to hundred balls or 60 balls brings its own share of complexities. For example, The Hundred format is of 100 balls only, but 20 overs of 5 balls each over. In this format, a bowler can bowl 2 overs straight, but not more, while a bowler can bowl only one over per end in other formats. The penalty for a no ball in The Hundred is 2 runs, compared to 1 run in other formats.
In T10 cricket, there is something called floating powerplay, which a batting side can activate any time after the first 2 overs are bowled. If the shorter format was not batting-friendly enough, this rule turns the game entirely towards batters in T10 format. In the first two years of T10 League, the side batting second won 70.2% of the time, meaning a toss could just decide the winner of such games.
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Lacks popularity so far
The Hundred has been running for five seasons, and it is yet to catch up and get fans onboard, something that IPL has done successfully for 18 years. The Hundred format has been secluded to England and does not give itself enough scope to grow and catch up in other countries.
Meanwhile, T10 leagues struggle to remain relevant as the disparity between bat and ball is too wide to be bridged. Although there are many T10 leagues across the cricketing world, it has not really set the stage on fire. Due to misbalance between bat and ball, the T10 leagues fail to give the right dose of entertainment a cricket fan wants.
On the other hand, T20 cricket has always topped the popularity charts, across domestic, international or ICC tournaments. A 20-overs game gives the team the space to strategise, adjust and even make a comeback from losing causes.
Although the format is still batting-friendly, a bowling side too can make a mark as the innings is spread over 20 overs, giving the chance to the bowling side to bounce back with the ball. The 2024 World T20 final is a case in point where India defended 30 runs off 30 balls against South Africa to win their second T20 title.
What the future holds for T10 cricket and The Hundred?
The Hundred is just five seasons old, and has attracted a few foreign stars to the league. But India stars stay out of it and even other T20 leagues due to BCCI directives to players to not ply their trade in such leagues. However, an exception was made for Dinesh Karthik to play in SA20 league only after he has retired in international and domestic cricket. India stars are huge draws across the cricketing world, and if The Hundred manages to get a few popular India stars, former or current, it might boost their brand value. T10 cricket suffers from lack of misbalance between bat and ball, and might just go on as a six-and-four hitting frenzy, but would struggle to match the popularity of T20 cricket.
With The Hundred, and T10 not really ringing the bells, it would be prudent to stick to T20 cricket across domestic and international stage, and not reduce the format further for the sake of logistics and speeding up game time. T20 cricket is already popular as it stands now, but needs to be controlled in terms of reducing time wastage, making game faster, having small duration tournaments, and working to bring more balance between bat and ball, and having an even contest.
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