IPL: 2

With the election results out, and cabinet ministers taking oath, IPL-2 has also come to an end.

When the IPL burst upon India last year, six noisy weeks of cricket in a mini-skirt, arm-in-arm with business and Bollywood, it felt like revolution. By no way could politics be kept out of it. I was aware of the opening battle, this year which coincided with the elections; the game had to be moved out of India. Cricket South Africa (CSA) played the surrogate, overseas host to the game that moves India, thus proving that geography and boundaries are irrelevant in the face of a live television audience.

Moving cost would have been prohibitive, local crowd support missed, sponsors unable to give tickets to their dealers, team owners difficult to protect balance sheets and ensure excess of income over expenditure, am unaware of the actual outcomes though…...


Had missed the glamour of Priti Zinta, Neetu Ambani, and the game as a whole….as I had watched literally every game of IPL-1. But this time, as I started following it, it was almost the finals….Not because of the change in venue, last year too…had watched all the matches only on TV.

Seven of the eight teams where with a chance of making it to the semis and beyond. But the finalist were the early losers last time, it does prove that all of them from the last year, had evolved more in terms of the Twenty20 game.

If last year finals was neck to neck match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings, this year it was a brilliant play between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers, Hyderabad. . Kumble picked himself to bowl the first over after inviting chargers to bat. And again it was Captain Vs. Captain, batting Vs Bowling, Kumble Vs. Gilchrist, after the umpire called play…Though Deccan chargers had been jolted at the start, Kumble’s magic did not pay the price, and the Deccan chargers went away with the cup.in 20 overs, with 143 runs for 6. , when the Royal Challengers had scored 137. Here again I am unaware, if it is the beauty of the game, or fixing of the matches…last year, the most underestimated team was Rajasthan Royals and they took the cup. This year too it was the least ranked teams….

The trend shows the result of IPL-3, the cup should go to bechara, Knight Riders……