The IPL 20-20 Show has drawn to a close. People, press and the pros have said a lot about this tournament. But here are the 20 things that stood out to me – that very few, if at all any, noticed; far less spoke or wrote about.
Here is my 20-Plenty. From the sublime to the ridiculous.
1. If IPL is termed a success, never mind if it is for the right reasons or not, there is a lesson for the administrators if they seriously want to promote first class cricket in India. If marketed well, the crowds would turn up even for Ranji trophy or the Duleep and Deodhar trophies. Is someone in the BCCI listening?
2. None of the Indian players complained about too-many-matches-no-rest-burn-out and what not. This has been their oft-repeated quote when they lost matches. But not here; not now. IPL fee was money for their jam, you see!
3. What a piece of crap, this cheerleader stuff. We Indians are easily aroused by a cricket ball, thank you. We don’t need any more attractive pairs under a skimpy costume to get us up and running.
4. Did you notice the IPL Chairman was out there in the all the matches – more so when Punjab Kings XI was playing. Did you notice how much he was up close with Preity Zinta? Boy, he was really having a ball (no pun intended).
5. Talking about Preity Zinta, we now she loves cricket. We also now know she can clap; can cheer; and to top it all, come to a show completely dressed!
6. Have you ever seen a match, involving Indian cricketers, where the fielding was as good as we saw? Damn the entrenched old-legends in our Test and ODI teams. The local kids were falling all over the park making us wonder if the grounds were slippery.
7. Do you really think our old legends can’t field coz’ of their age. Then how come the 35+ International stars viz., Mathew Hayden, Shane Warne et al field as well as they did. It is due to an old fashioned word called ‘commitment’. Humiliating when you compare their fielding with our veterans who can run and fall down only when they do ads!
8. Everyone kept talking about how good the tournament has been for the young Indian cricketers who got a chance to interact with senior International stars. Fine; but on the other hand, why hasn’t anyone talked about all those International stars who got to practice Indian bowlers on Indian tracks and get well acclimatized to our conditions. Imagine how much it would have benefited Ricky Ponting to practice Ishant Sharma in the nets – day in and day out!
9. IPL yet again proved how Sachin Tendulkar while he may still be (erroneously) claimed a great batsman, has been and will remain just a poor sport. Post Mumbai Indian’s defeat against King’s XI in a crucial match, he complained about umpiring errors in a post-match press conference. Apparently a couple of decisions went against their team and they lost by 1 run. But what about umpiring errors that went in favour of them in their previous matches? Well, he didn’t comment but would have instead said they are part of the game!
10. Yuvaraj indicted Mumbai crowd, in a post-match presentation, for not supporting them when King’s XI played there. He said, “Mumbai crowd was partisan and they forgot a few of us in Punjab play for India.” Damn it Yuvi, that’s what happens in Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy or Deodhar Trophy matches. When a Banglorean watches a Ranji Trophy, he will support Karnataka, even if the opponent is Delhi that might have more than a few players playing for India.
11. Staying on the subject of crowd behaviour, Madras once again proved, as if further proof was ever necessary, why when it comes to crowd behaviour, they are light years ahead of every other city in India or for that matter any other in the world. They cheered for their home team – Super Kings alright – yet appreciated good cricket even if it came from the bat or ball of the opponents – as they have always done all these years.
12. Not just this IPL, I wonder why, any major tournament played in India – the finals are either played at Kolkata – the ruffian Nandigram nincompoops – or Mumbai – the partisan people (not my description, but Yuvaraj’s). Why not Madras? Here is a crowd that genuinely loves cricket – how many cities in India can actually claim that? They love the game for what it is. It has one of the most sporting pitches in India – good bounce for the fast bowlers, a hint of turn for the spinners and a good deck for the batsmen who can play on the rise. Moreover, Madras’s M.A. Chidambaram stadium, and most of it don’t know this fact, is the first fully covered stadium in the world. What more do you need for a great cricket match? Let BCCI or IPL seriously look at having the next final here in my hometown!
13. If Harbhajan Singh can slap Sreesanth knowing fully well he was being watched by fifty thousand people on the ground and millions on T.V, am I to believe he wouldn’t have called Andrew Symonds a ‘monkey’ in the middle of the pitch in far off Australia? Harbhajan would have said it and all of us, media included, cried from our rooftops supporting this rogue. Shame on all of us.
14. Everyone raves about the big hitting in IPL; the sixes rain and the boundary showers. But did you notice the boundary lines had gotten shorter? The ropes were roped in. As such the 75 yards grounds have been getting smaller with increasing commercialization of cricket. But IPL took it to another league. I could see the ropes getting in by a good 10 yards or so in most grounds - so there would be more sixes and a flurry of fours. What this would do, apart from the brutal nature of 20-20 batting, is stop any youngster dream of being the next Shane Warne or Muthiah Muralidharan. Spin would be sin, very soon!
15. More women watched IPL. The fairer sex who always complained about how their husbands were being glued to cricket didn’t mind getting a bit glued to IPL themselves. They were there to get a glimpse of their favourite film stars, not for the cricket. Women won’t change!
16. For all the glitz and glamour of IPL, the one thing that didn’t change was the battery of bad commentators on TV. We still had the same old grumps who shouted ‘good shot’ when there was a boundary or a six. We know it was a good shot damn it. Why can’t these guys analyze the game at a more strategic and tactical level. These guys need to take a crash course under a Richie Benaud, a Bill Lawry, a Barry Richards or a Michael Holding. Till then it would pay to watch cricket on T.V with the mute button on!
17. I didn’t check the statistics. But I bet there were far fewer no balls. Thanks to the free hit rider. It’s good for the bowlers and for the bowling team; these free hits have put the fear of God in the bowlers. If we are serious about cutting down the wides as well, we now know a simple solution. A free hit for every wide bowled!
18. Surprisingly, the coaches were conspicuous in IPL with their low profile. Nobody seemed to talk about the coach of the IPL teams! Wonder why! In fact, how many of us know who coached Mumbai Indians or, for that matter, Delhi Dare Devils.
19. Bartering would be allowed from season 3. Which means, Mathew Hayden can leave Chennai Super Kings and move to Bangalore Royal Challengers while Shaun Marsh can leave Punjab Kings and migrate to Hyderabad Deccan Chargers. The point is, when that happens, what happens then? Would the fans be loyal to their team or would they keep shifting loyalties?
20. Lastly, do you really think 20-20 is here to stay? Do you honestly think we would like to watch the ball being belted over the park three times an over? Will we continuously cheer when the ball crashes to the fence every other delivery? Wouldn’t the game get too predictable? Won’t we get bored of this slam bam thank you mam very soon? Then what happens? Will be shift to ODI, or even better, to Test cricket?
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Dear S.Sir,
Hope you are doing well.
Thanks for the blog update. It was nice reading your stand on the IPL, and though I didnt agree on some points, I'd say that you've penned down your thoughts well. I'm especially not too sure about pt.no.15..and though I beg to differ, I'd rather not put forward my disapproving points, because I imagine all you'll think is- girls and cricket dont go together. I mean it's generally fun to read it that way, but there are a few of us out here who enjoy watching the game for what it is. Sans the bias. No judgements. No asking, "what the #@!$ ! Cant he do this or that!!.." Since we dont know as much as you guys do, we can enjoy the match for what it is. Anyway, like I said, there seems to have been a generalisation in pt.15, so I thought I'd just point that out.
And like you said in point 1, the IPL would get more people, including the media and the cable operators hopefully, to watch and telecast more cricket. And that's good for the game.
As for pt no.2 on ‘cheerleading’, I couldn’t agree more. I’m sorry to put it this way(incase they’re reading..) but it looked so dud- like and bimbo-ish to have those male and female cheer leaders trying to get us to cheer(!) when we already were. I’d say the only people who had a great time were the ones who put them there. And probably the media guys who had come in to capture the match live. But after a while, I’m sure they too would have put the legs and the torsos out of their mind and would have concentrated on the game. Including the so called cheer leading squad, who were seen to be sitting quietly towards the end, as the tension was too much to bear for them too.. And when the camera focused on them towards the last 5 overs, one of them would remember why they were being paid to be there and get up to ‘cheer’ ( whatever…) and lead the rest of their group.. cheer- leading alright…sheesh!
Well, I’ve heard from the great patrons of cricket around me that all players are not 1dayers…So I guess we may really not get to hear ‘Indian players complaining about too-many-matches-no-rest-burn-out and what not’. But we will definitely get to hear ‘I’m growing too old, if I were younger I could have played better’ and stuff.. Well we cant help it. Grace is what is required here. And since some of them are human enough to admit that they cant move around as they used to, I sure do hope to see more new and young (and dashing and sexy.. hehe… ‘women wont change’!!!;)..) players in the limelight. It’s about time anyway. If we could have singing and dancing competitions to bring out and nurture talent and make the singers and dancers of tomorrow, I’m sure that the IPL can do the same too. The youngster’s wishing ground I’d say..
But like you mentioned, we’ll get to see some great older set of players at the same time, who were able to defy logic and dive and bounce around all over the field. Simply for the reason that they are what they always were. Legends.
And it was somehow silly to watch the ‘stars’ for what we know them for, do something that we don’t know them for..Watching them run onto the field to congratulate the players/ pat them on the back for getting-this-close-but- not- close- enough looked rather silly. Well, we might as well get used to seeing them there.. and in the process, seeing the IPL Chairman there.. Ah what the heck! No comments!
Well, I’d say that our players might as well get used to not being cheered for when they play against a state that’s not their own. I mean, that’s what happens at the Duleep, so what’s the fuss here? It sure would feel weird, like Dravid notably pointed out when he played with RCs against the MIs, so my advice is..get used to it guys..
Bartering is just going to add to the excitement and unpredictability of the game I’d say. JUST when you thought that Shaun’s going to come up with a new strategy to get the Kings XI Punjab to the finals next time, and JUST when you think that Dhoni’s going to find a nice Indian girl in Chennai and settle down, literally, with the CSK..POOF! they’re in another team..let’s just wait and see what would happen- it would definitely make some interesting column and blog writing material, if not anything else….
Who cares a damn about the ear pulping and teeth gritting commentary! All we were bothered about is what we could see. The game (and perhaps the cheerleaders too- admit it!!..) as compared to our usual one dayers and tests, were getting over at the blink of an eye, literally, so where was the time and interest to even remotely hear what those fellows with the ‘I know cricket better than you’ air were saying!
I should sheepishly agree that Harbhajan made a fool out of the entire cricketing audience in India. Racial discrimination and what not did it end up in. He had us screaming and yelling from our rooftops that we Indians have more self respect and that we will not take it sitting down..and that we have humility and nothing dents the pride we have to call ourselves Indians...(sheesh.)
Well now, even if Bhaji DIDN’T call Symonds a monkey (which I think he honestly IS..) it sure does look like he did, in the light of what transpired between him and Sreesant. It should have been quite a shocker for the young lad from my own native, which happens to be God’s own native too…(KERALA!!yippeeee!!!!..ahem! alright, I’m deviating from the topic..) to have a friend and fellow colleague (in the true sense) have slapped him in front of the entire cricketing world. .
And I’d definitely agree with you S. Sir. No other ground has seen the entire lot of sportive spectators stand up and applaud a good ball or a beautiful shot from the opposition team other than our good old Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai. They should seriously consider housing finals here, IF the BCCI and the IPL is looking at the fact that cricket should be…well, cricket. No matter what form it is played in.
This comes to say that I dont think people will ever get tired of the 6s and 4s. Well the IPL didnt create much of a ripple in the rest of the world, let alone a roar. But you’re talking about a cricket crazy nation here. India’s not seen such a furore amongst all sections, who were literally talking cricket, watching cricket and eating cricket during the 1+ month that it was there. So much so, that we had people speaking of post IPL blues. There were’nt too many publicity activities from the side of the IPL. But the job was done to perfection because of the team pairings, the star owners, the fancy names and the convenience of the timings. None of the other tournaments, namely the ones you mentioned yourself, ever elicit such a strong reaction amongst the crowd. So we will always prefer a nail biting finish to a great match and will always throng to the stadiums and to our living rooms to watch some real good cricket through some real good players. Not just this year, but for many years to come.
Looking forward to your comments.
Love,
Maya
That was a splendid analysis of the IPL. Trust me, it was a treat to read! Looking forward to reading more like this! After 45 days of excitement, glitz, glamour and gossip, the average Indian couldn’t have asked for more. I guess the IPL was known more for its happenings off the field than on the field. The newspapers, media I am sure had a ball of a time. Well, I am not going to analyze the IPL again more so because any attempt of analysis by me would pale in comparison to yours. I am only going to touch on those plenty 20 points that I differ on and may be add a few more things
To begin with, I don’t think all women watch the game for the Page 3 quotient. I am an avid lover of the game and have been closely following the IPL. I have seen so many Test and ODI matches right from the first to the last ball. Yea it’s true that I don’t constitute the rest of the women but I am one case
It’s surprising how the franchise owners are quick to blame the captains for their team’s defeat. There were reportedly some feuds between a certain Shah Rukh Khan and Saurav Ganguly and a certain Vijay Mallya and Rahul Dravid. Actually goes on to show how much the franchise owners know of the game. And worser still, Rahul Dravid staying quiet. It’s surprising how he calls his team “Royal Challengers Bangalore” and blames one person for all the defeat. And not surprisingly they have made the highest loss in the IPL, a whooping 43 crore rupees. And speaking of RCB’S failure, what was Anil Kumble doing in Twenty-20 cricket?
I don’t understand the need for Brand Ambassadors for IPL. Did we have people or celebrities promoting Team India at the ODI’S and the Tests? Then why all the hype for IPL? If they are bringing in the celebrities just to bring in crowds so that they could catch a glimpse of their favorite stars then it’s sheer madness.
And IPL , sadly has become so commercialized and been conducted with a profit motive that it has taken off the mere spirit with which the game is played. 1063750 US $ bid for Yuvraj Singh, 10,35,000 US $ for Rahul Dravid, are we playing the game to see which franchisee has been able to make the maximum bid?
It’s yet to be seen whether IPL would replace the Test and ODI’S but don’t you think Twenty-20 cricket is a lot more thrilling than ODI? In the ODI’S at the 46th over one would probably have a fair idea of whose going to be winning but in Twenty-20 cricket even in the 19.4th over, the match could tilt either ways. I still remember the match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians where when Sachin and Jayasuriya gave a huge start to Mumbai, it looked as if Mumbai would win it easily but then before one could say “easily” Kings XI Punjab won the match
How come this blog is left behind and hasn't seen an update? Its been exactly a month since I saw an update on this blog :)
Dear Sir
I liked most of your points, but please stop being biased for the heck of it. I know you love chennai with your life, but hell, the stadiums in kolkata n mumbai r much bigger and have better infrastructure. i have personally seen the chepauk, eden and brabourne stadias...and if u compare chepauk with the other 2, well, i have nothing to say. pls also see the seating capacity of eden, dy patil stadium and other major cricket venues...i hope a rational person like u will agree that the others are better...eden kicks ass @90000....and is a bigger stadium...
ohh, and do come 2 kolkata for the next ipl....we love the game too...and pls refrain frm using such pointers, like Nandigram whatshit...ok! See, i appreciate ur creativity, but this is a public forum, dear sir.
thank u.
ohh n yeah, why chepauk is not chosen as a venue....i am just reinforcing ur "money is honey" point...
Eden - 82,000 (Official Capacity)
DY Patil - 60,000
Chepauk - 50,000
If I was in the shoes of bcci, eden or dypatil wud be my first choice.
no hard feelings again there.
its all financials & numbers that matter for the bcci.
:)
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