Monday, March 17, 2008

IPL and wat it means to me...

I never had the patience to blog... restless as I am. But then I have put my head down for this and will talk abt something close to my heart. Cricket !!!

The Indian Premier League... BCCI's fiefdom, has left many ppl, like me, smacking lips at the prospects on offer. The plethora of talent, the star power involved and finally the sheer pull of Indian cricket's latest darling T20 cricket.
While many a debate have raged on about the management of the event, about the money and how it will cement India's place as the high lord of global cricketing arena, I will steer clear of all this and talk about what it means to a simple guy who will switch on Set Max on 18th April.
For long we have been living under the heady influence of the English Premier League ( or is it BPL ??) wat with our footballers coming to naughts at more places than one. Now is our turn to give it back. Funny it might seem but how dearly would I love to see the Barmy Army glued to their TV sets in some sports bar in London, cheering for the Mumbai team just like we go gaga over Man Utd ( thats just a personal choice!!!). Will some guy in Sydney swear by Dhoni's hard hitting just like a Bangalorean singing hosanna's to Christiano Ronaldo or will we see a guy in Cape Town wearing a Jaipur team jersey just like we see Arsenal T-shirts with Thierry Henry's name ?
And what about the Indian viewer, so paranoid and yet, eternally supportive of the Indian national team. Suddenly, its not about the country anymore. Its not playing for pride but for big bucks and bigger hoopla. Interesting to see how will this country welcome Andrew Symonds, undoubtedly the biggest villian in recent Indian history(personal views may vary !!).
Imagine a scenario, when Symonds smacks Bhajji for a last ball six to win a match for my team. Should I cheer for Symonds and my IPL team or should I go on to rue the fact that Aussie dominance has been proved once again, and that too against India's eptiome of racial equality and loose language ??
My mother has never understood how a guy from Portugal can play for an English club, more so when he was instrumental in the sending-off his club mate in a crucial match between the national teams. The case in point being, Ronaldo and his Man Utd team mate Wayne Rooney. Imagine IPL had started a year back. Now will I welcome back Symonds into my IPL fold with open arms after the racism row. Will I boo him or will I root for him so that he takes my IPL team to victory??
Will I stand among thousands in the Eden Gardens and sing the anthem of Kolkata Knight Riders just as the Theater of Dreams reverberates with "Glory Glory Man U" ?? I have only questions and no answers yet. One day I'll surely know, whether dads in India pass on IPL heritage in their genes, whether people take up cudgels for their teams and whether we are ready as a nation of cricket hungry people to accept the valiant efforts of gladiators, irrespective of their nationalities.
Maybe the answers to all these questions and many more will decide the future of the IPL and for a better part, of world cricket. Till then I luv Man Utd and I continue to cheer for the Red Devils, all the while hoping I will have my very own cricketing anthem to chant...
Ohh if only time could fly and April 18th could just be now....!!!!