Err... yeah, I know - its been here for a while. But never the less, since I have to make my writing look catchy lemme say - ITS HERE! And what a show its been. Sitting in UK, I missed most of it straight away. Setanta Sports (telecast IPL exclusively in UK) dont bring half the real action to UK - how sad! My girl friend told me about all the team anthems and the action - and I had to resort to You Tube to catch up on a lot of the behind the scenes. But never the less - big action, big players, high octane games, 20 overs - fits into my evenings nicely. And god there is some cricketing action to die for. Dhoni's captaincy scripting narrow victories, Morkel hitting a 124 m long six, murali's incredible bowling (yeah, if I haven't given it away already, Chennai Super king's is my team!)
That brings me to the biggest issue I had with IPL - what team do I cheer for?! Damn! I was born in Chennai, lived there for 13 years, but I associate home more with Delhi where I lived for 4 of my prime years. My favourite (the world's favorite) player plays (or atleast will do when his groin agrees with him finally) for Mumbai - yes, its the little master I am talking about - Tendulkar! My most favourite bowlers Warne and McGrath play for Rajasthan and Delhi. My favourite captain plays for Chennai, Hyderabad have bagged Rohit Sharma - confusing or what?! I realised after speaking to a few people I wasnt alone, and Soumya Bhattacharya echoes my thoughts very nicely in his article.
But in the end I decided to root for Chennai Super Kings. Why? Since I could not make a logical choice, I decided I will go nitpicking! I like their color - yellow yellow dirty fellow - ennada Rascala! Shivamani cheers for them. Ofcourse they have Dhoni, and I love his captaincy thinking. And I guess at the end of it, I am a tamilian! OK, for my Thamizh brothers - Thamizhan! Go Chennai Super Kings - GO!
My picks of the IPL tournaments so far:
- What a treat to see cricketing legends back in action, and still doing what they do best! Never thought I would see Warne and McGrath going again.
- Some real young talents to watch out for: Gony has got some real talent. We have seen Yusuf before too, but now you can see more and what he can do!
One thing I love about IPL
Its all about the players and opportunities. Where else do domestic ranji trophy players and zonal players get to play with and against greats like Warne and McGrath at this level?
One thing I hope they do something about
Cricket is a batsman's game. period. That's what makes Warne and McGrath who they are. But IPL has taken that to another level. DLF maximum sixes, no-ball free hits, orange cap etc. Bowlers are under tremendous pressure in this high scoring high run-rate game. I hope they do something about putting a little back in the bowlers hands. How about highest strike rate or economy etc?
Look Deeper
There has been a lot of talk about the bollywood showbiz around the IPL. For the true fans of the game - look deeper. Yeah, its all about money, but not at the expense of cricket. There is a lot of cricket here guys. Cricket is driving money - its not the other way around!
I wish and I believe IPL is here to stay. Go IPL - GO Chennai Super Kings!
1 comment:
interestingly, i found myself facing the same dilemma- and given that i don't belong to any particular part of the country, and that i didn't feel like supporting the team from the place i am living in at the moment (why u ask? well....i don't normally back the much-hyped things in life for some reason), i chose to egg on the underdog in every match! that ofcourse eventually led to way too much confusion- so i just stopped watching the matches altogether- i now keep myself content by looking at pictures of my journo friends with the stars :D
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