IPL has a lot in common with movies in India. Cricket and Cinema go together like Viv Richards and Nina Gupta. Howsoever far apart they might be, they do make strangely great bed-fellows. And IPL, is the Masaba of this relation ! A cross breed, yet beautiful and highly successful at a very young age.
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| Masaba...aah ! |
Michel Holding, one of my childhood favorites declared, "T-20 is not Cricket and Keiron Pollard is not a Cricketer".
Those who have not got a bite in, blame IPL for 'Crass Commercialization' of the 'Once Beautiful' game.
Pakistani Cricketers declare they don't care about IPL and then secretly curse Ijaz Butt.
BCCI declares IPL as clean because they have rid IPL of the corrupting influence of evil Lalit Modi.
But let people heap abuses and denigrate IPL. Let them damn it. Let them condemn it. Let them do anything except 'ban' it. That is something nobody will do. Thankfully, because IPL is a 'Goose that lays Platinum Eggs'. Gold is passe !
It is simple. I love IPL. I always like to give 5 reasons for anything and everything. But when it comes to IPL, I have so many reasons to love IPL, I might run out of space on the web. So I will stick to 11; one each for every team and one for Lalit Modi.
I Love IPL because...
1] I can sleep tight on the previous night of IPL Final. I couldn't on 1 April 2011 night.
2] Whoever wins the IPL Final, I can celebrate. An Indian team will be winning. If it is Delhi, happy for Viru. If KKR wins, great because Pathan is there. If Mumbai Indians win, Thank You Sachin.
3] My wife and daughter cope up with shorter matches. They thought I was on another planet during the entire World Cup campaign.
4] My temper remains fine even in the worst of situations during IPL. Ashish Nehra can't ruffle me and I adore Munaf Patel. Piyush Chawla is such a wonderful prodigy after all. And Rahul Dravid can't draw a match.
5] I don't have to worry about Sachin's 100th International Century and then his 50th ODI Century and then his 102 Century and then his 19000 runs in ODIs and 15000 runs in Test Cricket and so on...
6] 92 runs needed of 60 balls doesn't send my heart rate soaring to 184 in 60 seconds. It remains down, almost like Munaf Patel's speed. Nothing can change it.
7] Nobody will dare to drop Yusuf Pathan to accommodate Nohit Sharma / Ravindra Jadeja in the team.
8] Ravindra Jadeja can't lose a match for India, howsoever hard he might try.
9] Suresh Raina will not be bothered by short pitched bowling.
10] Shane Warne can continue to play; perhaps till we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of IPL.
11] And most importantly, Billy Bowden can't beat India !
And one for the Glamor !
How can we ignore the Glamor quotient ? How can we ignore Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty and her sister, SRK, Deepkia and her latest boyfriend and Kingfisher ? And of course the parties and Page-3 crowd and Fake IPL Player ? IPL is GLICKET [Glamor + Cricket]
Hail IPL; the greatest show on Earth !
SPun Doctor
Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/
Well said sir. Enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gol !
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true Indian owning his home-made product. Pretty valid points. At first I thought the initial lines were the reasons par then it all boiled down to your 11 points, mainly Indian concentated.
ReplyDeleteWill try my best to follow it this time better than last 2 years. Too much of cricket to keep one self updated with from tomorrow, county circuit and this.
doctor saab.....hope u noticed....R. Jadeja is playing for Kochi.....:P............cheerz....
ReplyDeleteDeekay, even Sreesanth is playing for Kochi. Hope 2 Negatives make a Positive. But whoever wins, I am comfortable. No heart burns !
ReplyDeleteMasuud, welcome to this blog.
ReplyDeleteI just don't care about IPL per say. It is like going to a fast-food joint in the nearby mall. Never look at the menu. Never bother about the price tag. Just ask the beautiful waitress to bring whatever is special for the day. Gulp it down with a Pepsi and swipe the card and leave. It is over in quick time and you have your hunger quenched and back to work as quickly as possible.
This helps because I am recovering from a tremendous World Cup campaign that drained Indian Cricketers as well as fans like me.
I always have two favorite teams when it comes to serious Cricket. India because I am Indian. Pakistan because I am envious of the quality and quantity of the bowling talent your country is able to manufacture.
I was shattered after 2007 WC because both India and Pakistan were knocked out in first round. The Indo-Pak final in the subsequent T-20 WC final was a mild balm !
Well written...
ReplyDeleteI for one, will take any cricket I get....I've always enjoyed the IPL even though the quality is not always too good..only thing I wonder is, will I get over the World Cup hangover in time, to care for the IPL?
TB007, Welcome. Me too not out of the hangover. Watched the curtailed replay of the final last night on Star Cricket. Even my father sat through till 11:00 PM.
ReplyDeleteFor me too, any Cricket is good Cricket. And I love Cricket with all the padded up aspects like the 'Cheer Girls' and 'Beer Girls' !
Exactly my thoughts plus IPL sometimes provides hidden joys when we discover new talent
ReplyDelete