Indian Premier League

Let me start with the flavour of the season in India - the IPL..

It actually amazes me that cricket (which was already being given the status of a religion) can be taken higher. Although I love cricket and have been a player myself but I still find it amazing how a majority of the people across India are almost obsessed with the new phenomenon called IPL. The viewers today are spending 20% of their life (leaving 9 hours of the day) to watching cricket and this is not a one off obsession - its going to continue for 44 days. Do not think a World Cup ever achieved that or even football (as a %age of population) could do that.

Lalit Modi - the man who seems to get all the applause but truly speaking if the credit should be given, it has to be the Essel Group (ZEE TV), Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev. If not for them, I do not think IPL would have been even created!! ICL (if I may call it the mother of T20 League concept) dared to shout at BCCI and IPL was just a rude reply to them. We love IPL not because the concept was great (it already existed) but because the people we know are there & because Lalit Modi created a hype that never was dreamt in this cricket obsessed nation.

To be very honest, I still find ICL to be more innovative but hardly followed it when it was on. This is also probably because they were not bound by the rules of ICC who like our government takes decades to change a rule.. Its quite fascinating that in a world where Consumerism is what rules, organizations like ICC acts deaf & dumb and only reacts when given an electric shock (ICL being the electric shock this time around).

Do not wish to take anything away from IPL - they have done great. The fact that I am writing this on my blog is a testimony of its success & the madness around it...