IPL et al...

This year's IPL http://www.iplt20.com/ has it all!

All teams being in neck to neck competition - awesome locations - good pitches- bowlers finally getting there's back - some awesome hitting from the old masters - spinners playing crucial roles - most matches going down to nail biting finishes - hell, even the cheerleaders are allowed to wear..um..cherrleader-ish dresses rather than the covered up pseudo bhartiya naari look that was forced upon them last year.

Perfect recipe for an awesome tournament, right??

RIGHT??

NO - I hate it. It just doesn't have last year's fanatic following. I just don't feel like watching any of the matches to the point when people look at me in a weird way that this guy is not following the IPL at all in water cooler discussions!

Apart from knowing that Delhi is on top of the table I just don't know anything about it. I think the sole charm of this tournament was in the home and away game format. As loyal readers of this blog would remember I had gone for the opening ceremony ( http://swappinglives.blogspot.com/2008/04/old-letters.html ) last year. ANd followed and discussed the whole thing all the way till the end. And this time - no interest - at all. IPL belongs in India. Taking it to another country just takes away the charm. I loved the fact that there was finally some sporting event that was within the range of people like us to go and watch. I mean, seriously, we have no sport that happens regularly and that can ignite local passion and loyalty - and fits in nicely over the weekend. All we get as entertainment options are movies, plays (and those have also been affected by the Kannada-first brigade - yes, i'm talking about you Rangashankara (I used to go watch plays regularly but now they only have Kannada plays on the weekends ( It just makes me sick - this kind of culture policing is just not right. Put up Kannada plays, but don't deprive people of good, watchable plays just because they're in English or Hindi - Hindi is the National mother tongue for christ's sake)) and pubs. Going to sports events is so much more fun (Like the time AK and I went to watch the Williams sisters play in Bangalore http://swappinglives.blogspot.com/2008/03/weekend-diaries-continued.html

I want the IPL back home, I want some sporting culture to pervade through the country :(